Career Coach. Management Consultant. Writer. Marketer. Accountant.
When people find out, I have a blog one of the first questions I get is when do you have time for that?
I used to say usually when I’m supposed to be sleeping, but after I was diagnosed with sleep apnea, I finally got the message that sleep deprivation can cause major issues.
Nowadays, the answer is different and almost seems like it should be obvious but it’s not.
So here it is. [Read more…]
A five hour flight covering 2,100 miles, getting to bed at 2am to get up at 6am to make it to a 7am appointment.
I just did exactly that, and I’ve been doing it for 2 years.
Before that, I would get up and drive 60 miles in the morning (in bay area traffic) for the same reason. [Read more…]
It’s 12:15am. 3:15am in the timezone my body think it’s still in.
I’m late, a little groggy still, and not sure what to expect. [Read more…]
There’s an internet meme floating around that makes me laugh every time I see it. It’s not quite true for me but I know SO many people that this describes perfectly.
If what I regularly see out in the wild, you’re probably making a major mistake on your resume but before I tell you what it is, I want to ask you a question.
Let’s talk about resume bullets and why they’re the most important part of the resume. The bullets are where you have you have a chance to shine and get the reader to say “This person gets it. We should bring them in to have a conversation.”
Writing attention-grabbing bullets not only provides clarity about what you did in a role or on a project but it does something else too, which may or may not even show up in the job description… [Read more…]
A few days ago, I sent a note about a recession coming. I don’t know if it’s true or not but if you read the links, you can see people — who I imagine get paid to follow this sort of thing — think a recession is coming. But guess what?
If you’re focused on that, you missed the main point. So what was the point?
The point is it’s in your best interest to always be ready.
I heard Will Smith (formerly known as the Fresh Prince) say, “if you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready.” That’s one of the most useful pieces of advice I’ve heard from anyone. Read it again.
So do you want to know what you can do right now to stay ready? [Read more…]
A recession is coming.
Here are just a few headlines I read today.
Recession fears rise amid middle class families
An earnings recession looms for first time in 3 years
Robust US market continues to expand amid recession jitters
With a recession, the first thing most people think of is massive layoffs.
In addition to the recession, you can’t throw a rock without hitting an article about automation being here and expanding… to the detriment of the who jobs the computers are now doing.
But is it really true? [Read more…]
I recently stumbled across a letter an incarcerated man wrote to his son on June 12, 1984.
He opens talking about a story of a hill he runs everyday in the yard and how just three weeks prior he couldn’t even reach the top.
What may surprise you is this letter was written by a man many consider to be one of the greatest copywriters/direct response marketers who ever lived. His name was Gary Halbert. [Read more…]
I feel your pain.
After pouring your mind, body, and soul into crafting the perfect product or service, worrying about how to brainstorm and execute a small business marketing plan is the last thing you want to do.
Let’s be honest about it, though. Maybe part of this feeling is because you just can’t add this “necessary evil” as one more thing to do. Or the more likely option is you’re overwhelmed by the complexity of all the different small business marketing tactics you see out in the wild.
Here’s some good news, marketing for your business CAN be complex but it makes more sense to start simple and work your way up. For one, it’s cheaper. For two, it allows you to better understand what works in your marketing strategy before investing in shiny new things to automate unproven results.
The truth is marketing is the lifeblood for your business. And we all know what happens when you have no blood…
Besides, if you have an offer that’s going to help a lot of people, don’t you think you owe it to the world to make sure that offer gets seen by as many people as possible? You know, for the greater good, which coincidentally puts money in your pocket. Win-win.
This post is going to answer the nagging question,”how do I market a small business?” by showing you not only what you need to do but some quick, easy-to-digest examples of how to execute, including the right time to look at marketing automation software (and which tools you should look at when that time comes). [Read more…]
Do you ever feel like your day has so many meetings they all start to blend together?
So many details to capture. And sometimes not even knowing anything about the meeting topic.
It’s a real struggle. And because of this, one of the most important things you can do in your career (especially management consulting) is make sure you know how to take notes in meetings.
Working on consulting engagements, it’s not uncommon to have multiple meetings to prepare for the “real” meeting with the client. If you’re lucky, the meetings will yield some useful information.
There’s a huge problem with all of these meetings though – people have short-term memories. By the time the participants leave the meeting and get back to their desks, they remember minimal pieces of the discussion.
And even worse, when you ask people later about their commitments made in the meeting, they act like you’re speaking in a language they’ve never heard before. (Maybe accountability could be considered a language and that’s why they’re not familiar with it.)
That’s exactly why you’ll find the rich and powerful to be avid note takers.
When it comes to meeting notes, you’ll want to email those out to all invitees and be sure to focus on capturing the 6 following pieces of information.
Don’t worry if you’re having trouble following along in meetings. I’ll show you what to do in that situation too.
