Entrepreneur-thinking is the New Job Security

Entrepreneur-thinking is the New Job Security I meant to write five blog posts this week about being an entrepreneur.  Many of my users are looking for a job, but they are also looking for security, and thinking about starting their own business. So I wrote two posts about being an entrepreneur but I need to wrap up my thoughts before the weekend on this entrepreneur stuff. (my two posts: When an Entrepreneur Quits and Has to Find a Job, Funding Your Business: The Four F’s and A Novel Idea) We all know job security is gone. Im not saying that entrepreneurship is the new job security, Im saying that thinking like an entrepreneur is the new job security. I think having a job is simply one revenue stream.  It might be your only revenue stream, or it might be your biggest of multiple revenue streams.  But its just one revenue stream.  In the olden days, when there was such a thing as job security, you would not worry about whether you were going to have a paycheck come in the next two weeks it would automatically come. Entrepreneurs dont usually think that way.  They are always concerned about the top line (revenue), the bottom line (profit, or how much might end up in your pocket), and cash flow (when you can pay your own bills). Today, we need to think about top line income (how much money we bring into our household), bottom line (how much we get to keep after taxes and all of the bills), and cash flow (when the money hits our account, and how that matches up with our bills). We need to have the financial mindset that entrepreneurs have.  This means: We think about our revenue streams more than we had to before. We think about our pipeline who are the prospects that we are courting (or should be courting). We think about our current income streams, and how long well have them. We look at our competition and the market, and try to make decisions based on where things are headed. We think about our product (aka, ourselves): are our skills outdated?  What can we do to be more market-worthy? We think about our relationships, and who in our network could help us, and how we can help them. The stuff I wake up thinking about is the stuff that every person who needs to make money should think about.  Your degree aint going to cut it, nor is it going to be the thing that gets or keeps you that job.  I got a CIS undergrad and an MBA, neither of which (a) saved me from getting laid off, and (b) helped me get another job. What is it that will provide you INCOME security? How are you positioning yourself to create income security? Those are two of todays new career questions that we need to get serious about. Entrepreneur-thinking is the New Job Security I meant to write five blog posts this week about being an entrepreneur.  Many of my users are looking for a job, but they are also looking for security, and thinking about starting their own business. So I wrote two posts about being an entrepreneur but I need to wrap up my thoughts before the weekend on this entrepreneur stuff. (my two posts: When an Entrepreneur Quits and Has to Find a Job, Funding Your Business: The Four F’s and A Novel Idea) We all know job security is gone. Im not saying that entrepreneurship is the new job security, Im saying that thinking like an entrepreneur is the new job security. I think having a job is simply one revenue stream.  It might be your only revenue stream, or it might be your biggest of multiple revenue streams.  But its just one revenue stream.  In the olden days, when there was such a thing as job security, you would not worry about whether you were going to have a paycheck come in the next two weeks it would automatically come. Entrepreneurs dont usually think that way.  They are always concerned about the top line (revenue), the bottom line (profit, or how much might end up in your pocket), and cash flow (when you can pay your own bills). Today, we need to think about top line income (how much money we bring into our household), bottom line (how much we get to keep after taxes and all of the bills), and cash flow (when the money hits our account, and how that matches up with our bills). We need to have the financial mindset that entrepreneurs have.  This means: We think about our revenue streams more than we had to before. We think about our pipeline who are the prospects that we are courting (or should be courting). We think about our current income streams, and how long well have them. We look at our competition and the market, and try to make decisions based on where things are headed. We think about our product (aka, ourselves): are our skills outdated?  What can we do to be more market-worthy? We think about our relationships, and who in our network could help us, and how we can help them. The stuff I wake up thinking about is the stuff that every person who needs to make money should think about.  Your degree aint going to cut it, nor is it going to be the thing that gets or keeps you that job.  I got a CIS undergrad and an MBA, neither of which (a) saved me from getting laid off, and (b) helped me get another job. What is it that will provide you INCOME security? How are you positioning yourself to create income security? Those are two of todays new career questions that we need to get serious about. Entrepreneur-thinking is the New Job Security I meant to write five blog posts this week about being an entrepreneur.  Many of my users are looking for a job, but they are also looking for security, and thinking about starting their own business. So I wrote two posts about being an entrepreneur but I need to wrap up my thoughts before the weekend on this entrepreneur stuff. (my two posts: When an Entrepreneur Quits and Has to Find a Job, Funding Your Business: The Four F’s and A Novel Idea) We all know job security is gone. Im not saying that entrepreneurship is the new job security, Im saying that thinking like an entrepreneur is the new job security. I think having a job is simply one revenue stream.  It might be your only revenue stream, or it might be your biggest of multiple revenue streams.  But its just one revenue stream.  In the olden days, when there was such a thing as job security, you would not worry about whether you were going to have a paycheck come in the next two weeks it would automatically come. Entrepreneurs dont usually think that way.  They are always concerned about the top line (revenue), the bottom line (profit, or how much might end up in your pocket), and cash flow (when you can pay your own bills). Today, we need to think about top line income (how much money we bring into our household), bottom line (how much we get to keep after taxes and all of the bills), and cash flow (when the money hits our account, and how that matches up with our bills). We need to have the financial mindset that entrepreneurs have.  This means: We think about our revenue streams more than we had to before. We think about our pipeline who are the prospects that we are courting (or should be courting). We think about our current income streams, and how long well have them. We look at our competition and the market, and try to make decisions based on where things are headed. We think about our product (aka, ourselves): are our skills outdated?  What can we do to be more market-worthy? We think about our relationships, and who in our network could help us, and how we can help them. The stuff I wake up thinking about is the stuff that every person who needs to make money should think about.  Your degree aint going to cut it, nor is it going to be the thing that gets or keeps you that job.  I got a CIS undergrad and an MBA, neither of which (a) saved me from getting laid off, and (b) helped me get another job. What is it that will provide you INCOME security? How are you positioning yourself to create income security? Those are two of todays new career questions that we need to get serious about.

Choose Your Distractions, not The Other Way Around - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Choose Your Distractions, not The Other Way Around - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career In our daily lives one of the soft skills that needs to be learned is how to effectively deal with distractions. Everyone has distractions: Projects need to be completed Emails need to be answered Phone calls need to be returned When you allow distractions to take over your day it’s kind of obvious that your productivity drops. The challenge is to manage the distractions that come at you from every direction. The points mentioned above are not necessarily distractions because  they are likely part of your  job. However, how you react to these tasks can turn them into distractions if they are preventing you from getting the most important things  done.  Of course, you cannot always manage them away and cause them to disappear. However, you can control how you react to them and how you respond and when. Your calendar is your (not-so-secret) weapon You calendar can and should be used as the way to keep track of your day, your time, your projects and to some extent your life. No, your calendar is not your life. However, your calendar often determines how productive you will be on any given day. Keeping your calendar up to date and using it as a litmus test for what you will accomplish every day is critical for getting ahead and standing out in your career. Your manager, your peers, your customers and partners have expectations for you. In order to be successful at work and at home you need to take the reins of leadership to own your schedule. When you do your authenticity, your predictability, and ultimately your career can be greatly impacted… for the better. Use your calendar as a weapon Use your calendar wisely. Because if you don’t someone else will. Or, as I said above… Use your calendar as a weapon. Not a blunt force object to bludgeon someone over the head with, but as a tool and a technique to take your time back. To own your time… at least to the maximum extent you possibly can. Like everyone, I miss meetings every so often. Not because I planned on missing the meeting, but because it was not on my calendar. I have been known to tell my wife and kids that if something is not on my calendar it doesn’t exist. This might be a bit draconian, but it is true. I live my days by my schedule. One challenge we often have today is that we have multiple calendars. We have our work calendars, our personal calendars and some people have their family and outside interest calendars. It’s not an easy task keeping one calendar straight let along 2, 3 or 4 or more. This is what I say… If its not on my calendar … it does NOT exist The reality is… this is NOT always what I do. Distractions happen Plan for them. You will not likely be able to plan for every distraction. However, you can plan some buffer time in your schedule to accommodate them. Did you get what I said there? You can plan for them in YOUR SCHEDULE. The key word is… YOU! If YOU don’t control your time, efforts and schedule then someone else will. Wait a sec… You might be thinking you dont actually control your schedule. Au contraire! You do. In fact, unless you are in the armed forces or under some other form of indentured servitude your schedule might be the one thing you do have control over. Distraction Management 101 We all have to deal with distractions. Distractions will lower our productivity and they might even lead to missed deadlines. You probably have a pretty good feel for which distractions are the most frequent, the hardest to deal with, and the ones that cause you the biggest headaches. One tip for dealing with distractions is learning how to say no. I wrote a post about this here. Another is to evaluate distractions perhaps on a point scale if that works for you. If you cannot say no, and if you cannot delegate a distraction you  may be able to think about it in more detail by considering Diagnosing before Prescribing. Finally, distractions require decision making. Ultimately all decisions about your calendar are yours to make, yours to own and yours to execute.

6 Ways to Build Your Blog Audience - Classy Career Girl

6 Ways to Build Your Blog Audience It might seem easy to start a blog. Ideas flow in and you get to write about your passions and what you love. Then you have a lot of blog posts but the problem is growing the audience and getting traffic to your blog site. Increasing web traffic other than your family and close friends can be a  difficult thing, however, there are some practical tips that can help your blog develop, grow and even evolve into one of the most visited websites on the Internet. 6 Ways to Build Your Blog Audience 1. Syndicate Your Content Blog syndication is when you put a snippet or just a piece of content of your blog to other websites. The main goal is to increase web traffic especially if you have just started a blog. You have a choice on how to syndicate your blog, but if you are trying to promote something like a product, then you can syndicate the entire article to give thorough information to your reader. There are many ways on you can syndicate the contents of your blog, but the most  popular ones are through social media. This includes putting some of your blog contents to LinkdIn and Medium and so much more. There are also other 2. Blog Design Your blog layout is a huge factor when it comes to attracting and increasing your audience. Your layout should be easy to use and anyone can navigate smoothly. You can do a Peek test to see what users do on your site. Most audiences when they visit your blog want to know the blogger’s name and information which is usually in the “About” page, so make sure this is visible. Additionally, the usual menubar should be organized and the comment section should be easy to use. 3. Write For Search Engines In Mind When you have a blog and your goal is to sell and market your products, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is very useful. Most bloggers ignore this because it can be tricky and sometimes even pricey. However, a great turnout for web traffic is shown when you invest in content marketing. An increase in search rankings will soon benefit like inquiries for advertising and even inquiries for your products. All you have to do is just brainstorm some keywords that should appear in your blog and look for people who can find clever ways to help you incorporate these keywords into your blog site. Using an easy website plugin like Yoast SEO can make this much easier to garner a lot of web traffic. [RELATED: 4 Ways to Earn Revenue From Blogging] 4. Use Forums Aside from SEO, using forums can be a great way to increase traffic as you start a blog. All you have to do is search questions that are related to your business topic and you can help people by answering them and even linking back to your website in the answer. This strategy is like hitting two birds with one stone. You are simply addressing their questions/problems and you are increasing web traffic to your blog at the same time. 5. Commenting On Other Blogs Unfortunately, many people use the comment section to write spam comments, which gives a negative impression to this suggestion when starting a blog. However, if you are able to give a genuine comment, it is a great way to invite other blog writers back to your website or blog. As long as you are not overdoing it and invading all the comments sections of the website, forums and other blog sites similar to the niche you have, you will gain more viewers and make new friends. 6. Guest Post Crossovers and collaborations are very important for bloggers. You may think it would promote competition, but it is usually viewed as connecting and widening your network to people or bloggers who are in the same niche as you. You just have to find a relevant and credible website and try to reach out to them by suggesting a relevant blog topic. You can write for free in the beginning and see from there how you can start earning extra from it. These strategies are great ways to increase web traffic to your blog site. You don’t really need to spend a lot to promote your blog. All you need is to persevere and expand your network to fully enjoy the benefits of blogging.

Ask One Question to Help You Set Your Priorities - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Ask One Question to Help You Set Your Priorities - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Warning: This will come across as harsh. Being that this is the graduation season this might be the most critical nugget you (or someone you know)  needs to put  their career on the right path.  By asking The One Question you may be able to set your career on the perfect trajectory. But, at what cost? By cost I am referring the the nature of being a generalist or a specialist. While they are not perfectly correlated I have noticed that specialists are being rewarded within today’s business environment and it’s why I wrote The Rise of the Specialist. Am I right? I want to hear from you. Share your thoughts in the comments. If I’m completely off base tell me. Ok? I’m noticing a trend in people I work with these days. While it’s true I have worked with and continue to work with people in the tech industry I’m pretty sure this One Question mentality is pervasive across almost every industry. People are being rewarded for focusing on a specific set of deliverables … and nothing more. My observation is that people are being dissuaded (aka punished) for being more curious and seeking a more generalist point of view. After reading through this and thinking about it take 60 seconds  and consider: Does this model work for you? Does it make sense to you? Is it career limiting? (or expanding?) The Solution is The One Question Ask yourself … What do I get paid to do? That’s it. One simple question. Whether you are starting a career or 20 years into a career this one question may be a hard question to ask and perhaps an even harder question to answer. My recommendation for success: Focus On The One Question I’ve seen so many people narrow-cast their interests to focus explicitly and exclusively on the very narrow and specific tasks they have been assigned that I have come to realize that this is a trend. And, it’s why I wrote this post. What gets measured gets done! This statement What Gets Measures Gets Done has been attributed to a lot of people over the years. The first time I heard it was at a Tom Peters event. So, for me … this is a Tom’ism. And, Tom is right. If you want to succeed (at least in todays business climate) … Ask yourself … The One Question. Ask yourself … What do I get paid to do? If you don’t know the answer … re-read your job description. Ask your peers. And, ask your boss. Then focus, focus, focus on whatever it is you get paid to do. When you can do this you will stand out in your career and people will begin to recognize you for your ability to execute. I think it remains to be seen if this level of extreme specialization is just a trendline or those that practice it so religiously can be promoted to higher levels within the organization. Where those higher levels often require and expect people to be more generalized in their approach to managing people, processes and technology. Time will tell. But, no matter what you do or where you are within your career take the time to ask yourself … The One Question.

Why Big Data is the Best Career Move - CareerMetis.com

Why Big Data is the Best Career Move Source : Pixabay.comEvery tech-professional working in the industry today knows that change is the only constant. With the exponential rate at which technology updates and changes, it is essential for employees to meet those demands and constantly upgrade their knowledge.Better said than done, right?Like it or not, change is what drives the tech industry. It is this change that has enabled technology to have a huge impact in our daily lives. Big Data is one such new-age technology.evalEveryone related to the technology world must have heard this buzzword being thrown around. So, what is Big Data? And, more importantly, why should we learn Big Data?The Big Rise in Big DataevalTo understand Big Data, let’s roll back a few years. Back in the days when technology was starting to show its value in driving business growth, data was leveraged by organizations to draw insights into business strategies and structure their long-term planning.For example, manufacturing companies would assess products sold in different demographic regions and strategize which areas to concentrate their resources on. This helped them understand their customers better and organize their planning effectively.Things were easier back then as the amount and width of data was small. Deriving insights could be done by using traditional tools like RDBMS and spreadsheet.However, the major limitation of traditional tools was that they only provided insights on a minor level.Today, technology growth and digitization has made the volume of data increase to an unprecedented level. With many varied sources producing huge amounts of data, it is necessary to look at other tools to handle, store, maintain and derive insights from thesedata. This is the age when Data has turned into Big Data.Why Big Data?Big data tools unlike traditional data analyzing frameworks can help analyze both structured and unstructured data to derive future insights. This combination of structured and unstructured data is what ga ve rise to Big Data.Every digital footprint we leave behind while online is a vital piece of information. With the rise in usage of social mediaand increased dependency on the internet, we have unstructured data in the form of audios, videos and other such formats which could not be analyzed by traditional tools.Now, companies can analyze this data by using Big Data tools â€" draw relevant insights and use it to influence their short-term planning.This was a big step-change. Industry leaders soon realized that Big Data and Data analytics can be a major instrument for them to beat the competition and flourish in the market. This resulted in an astronomical of opportunities rise for Big Data developers and Big Data professionals.Now, what’s in it for you?evalLet’s look at the reasons why Big Data can be the best career move for you:1. Opportunities and Skill GapThe sudden rise in the volume of data has resulted in high demand for professionals who can derive insights from this pil e of Big Data.Professionals who have knowledge of Big Data and its various tools are sought after today. The sudden surge in demand has resulted in a big skill gap that is still existent in the IT industry. And this skill gap is growing.Learning various Big Data tools can help you ride this new-age wave and make a lasting career in it. A McKinsey Global Institute study states that the US will face a shortage of about 190,000 data scientists and 1.5 million managers and analysts by 2019.evalHere are some more job stats for you:According to Forbes.com, jobs requiring machine learning skills are paying an average of $114,000. Advertised data scientist jobs pay an average of $105,000 and advertised data engineering jobs pay an average of $117,000.59% of all Data Science and Analytics Companies rely on Big Data and its analysis to chalk out plan of action. You will have an opportunity to directly contribute to your organization’s growth. Challenging? Yes. Interesting work to keep you m otivated? Y.E.S!5. Become Future ReadyLearning Big Data will help future-proof your career. Big Data is the future; companies have now started to spend a lot more on hiring truly skilled professionals in Big Data tools. Up-skilling now with Big Data can help future-proof your career.Data Scientists and Advanced Analysts are the fastest-growing job roles, with demand set to spike 28% by 2020 An added advantage is that, you will be working with the latest trends in the tech world. This will help you to stay updated with all the latest tech upgrades. Knowing the market trends will help you to leverage these technologies better for personal and professional growth.ConclusionWith the advancements made in the field of Big Data, there is a compelling need for skilled people with the ability to understand, manipulate and manage data and think from the business point of view for usable insights.A professional with these skill set can master the ocean of Big Data and become a vital asset to a n organization, boosting the business and their career.Start learning Big Datatoday and climb up the professional ladder.

Retirement How to Get Off The Work Merry-Go-Round - Pathfinder Careers

Retirement How to Get Off The Work Merry-Go-Round - Pathfinder Careers Retirement: How to Get Off The Work Merry-Go-Round Retirement â€" it seems like a million years from now, but for many baby boomers, it is now suddenly looming in the rear-view mirror closer than ever. Consider the following example: Last week, I was providing résumé reviews at an industry conference, and a woman sat down in my booth. She sighed heavily, and said that she has been doing the same job for years, has been very good at it, and used to have a great deal of commitment and invested energy in her career. Now, however, she has reached the point where she will likely retire in the next 5 years, and while she will continue her career with the highest level of integrity, her heart is simply not in it any more. She is seeing the finish line come into sight, but with her remaining time in the workforce, she simply didn’t want to keep doing the same thing. And that’s exactly what every baby boomer needs to start thinking about when it comes down to winding down a career. Notice: I did not say “end working.” Many people don’t want to (or can’t) stop working altogether. That’s where encore careers can come in. Part of a strong retirement plan is to ease away from one’s lifelong career and leverage the skills / experience / subject matter expertise with an organization where it can make a difference. That means finding something that has a purpose… and matches your values. It’s basically an opportunity to take your background and repurpose it into something you believe in. Baby boomers are increasingly turning towards encore careers as their “final career project” as a capstone to their working life; it’s great to go out on a high note! And, finding these opportunities isn’t too difficult. First, determine what your interests are including what organizations could benefit from them. This might require doing some kind of skills assessment or working with a career coach. Then, using your network, start making inroads in those target organizations. Chances are, they will leap at the opportunity to snag someone with your background as a new asset for their mission and work. The end result can mean that you ease out of a heavy-duty career, transfer your knowledge to someone else, then step off the merry-go-round into well-deserved retirement!

A Review of Arno Markus Resume Writing and Analysis System

A Review of Arno Markus' Resume Writing and Analysis SystemArno Markus is the author of 'A Resume Writing and Analysis System' and the author of 'Earning Money - How to Make it Work For You', which are both based on his training system. Both of these programs are published by Inspire International.Arno Markus is the founder of Praxis who developed this program and it is also an acronym for the Latin word, 'provide'. He created this program because he wanted to change how people worked and earn money online. Arno Markus is a strong believer in hard work and that it will help you achieve your goals.Arno Markus' journey into the field of working online began with an article. He was trying to find the right freelance writers. He went to the directory and did not like what he saw there. He also felt that they would not take his business seriously.Arno Markus started creating his own freelance website. It was not like most sites. It focused on proof reading and getting customers. He focuse d on this part of his business, but he did not want his clients to be frustrated if he could not get his articles accepted.He called his business 'Correspondence Writer' and this was an idea that Arno Markus came up with. The website was similar to a job board, but there were no job listings and everything on the site was done by the freelance writers. He used the freelance writer's site to find them and then get them to create a resume for him.Arno Markus' business did very well and he quit his job to work full time on it. He knew he wanted to start a new business with a large marketing campaign. He thought that this would help his business become successful in the same way that internet businesses are.Arno Markus decided to focus on completing the Marketing Plan. He realized that his marketing plan was not working so he bought a program that was designed to help with this. It helped him write the marketing plan. It also helped him train his customers.Arno Markus learned that he ha d to learn everything about marketing. He also knew that his knowledge on marketing was limited. He knew that his knowledge of marketing was lacking so he started to research the topic. His research turned up many different ways to market, but his number one way was social media marketing.