5 Simple Rules for A Great Job Interview
By Dave Blake | July 26, 2007
Many years ago, when I was a young job-searching greenhorn, I ventured to New York City to take a bite out of the big apple of opportunity.
When it came to finding a job in a crowded city of millions, I quickly learned that it’s much easier on one’s sanity to sign up with one of the many employment agencies which helps job seekers looking for work.
I scoured the newspaper and found a large ad for one such well-known employment agency. True to their word, they promptly sent me off on several interviews – none of which I felt particularly comfortable at. Needless to say, I didn’t get any job offers.
While nursing a cold, I decided I needed a change. So, I contacted a much smaller agency and decided to see if my luck would be different.
These people rocked! They were down-to-earth friendly and genuinely concerned about helping me find a job. Before they sent me out on any interviews, they put me through a mock interview session and evaluated my performance (something the larger fancy-pants agency didn’t do). Afterwards, an advisor sat me down and we chatted about the results of my mock interview.
I am forever grateful for the feedback I got that day, because the interview preparation tips they gave me have served me well over countless interviews these many years. I’ve condensed their pointers into five simple rules that anyone can follow for better success at a job interview.
- Eye Contact – Look directly at your interviewer. Don’t cast your eyes down.
- Sit up Straight – Don’t slouch in your chair – it makes you look lazy and uninterested. Good posture makes you look like a confident person.
- Don’t Fidget – Keep your hands in your lap when you’re not making a point in the conversation. Fidgeting looks unprofessional.
- Speak Up – Don’t mumble your words. Speak directly at your interviewer with a clear, strong voice.
- Smile and Show Some Personality – It’s ok to be a little nervous, but remember to stay loose and be yourself. Personality counts for a lot.
Of course, there’s a lot more to think about when preparing for an interview. But even if you only remember these five simple interviewing rules, you’ll be able to make a good impression on the one person standing between you and a job – your interviewer.
Topics: Success | No Comments »
6 Ways Small Businesses Can Survive In A Crazy Economy
By Dave Blake | July 25, 2007
Contrary to popular belief, small businesses can survive a crazy economy by taking some proactive steps.
1. Provide spectacular customer service — every time. Have a friend or colleague visit your business and provide feedback from a customer’s perspective. This person should be unknown by your staff and willing to provide a candid assessment.
2. Make sure your front and back office work like a well-oiled machine. Are the front line and the back office telling your customers the same thing?
3. Manage your customer relationships — return customers take the least amount of effort — use that to your advantage. Keep in touch often.
4. Review your strategic plan monthly (weekly is even better). Make sure you’re doing the things that will get you where you want to go.
5. Adjust your strategic plan as necessary. Your “smallness” makes you more flexible.
6. Communicate, communicate, communicate — with your employees and your customers. Nurture those relationships. Ask for feedback often.
Topics: Strategy | No Comments »
4 Steps to Success In Life, Business, The Universe And Beyond
By Dave Blake | July 24, 2007
Everyone wants to succeed in life. And no one starts a business of any sort, on-line or off-line, wanting to fail.
Yet the sad fact is that 80% of offline and 97% of internet businesses will fail in the first year. 84% of internet businesses will never make any income at all.
So what can you do to ensure your success?
Luckily these four simple (never confuse simple with easy), tried and tested steps dramatically increases your chances.
1. Set Out Your Goals
Success means something different to us all. A self-made businessman worth millions of dollars would be thought successful by most. But if that businessman only rarely sees his family, never gets to play golf and spends all of his time on airplanes or in some exotic sounding (but usually antiseptic) hotel, is that really a success?
Would that businessman think his life a success?
Possibly, possibly not.
But if that man had set himself goals for his business, private and social lives he at least has some way of measuring his achievements.
Before starting on any endeavour - set your goals.
Make sure your goals are specific enough that you know when you have achieved them. “I want to make money on the internet” is weak. “I want to make $100,000 next year and $200,000 the year after” is much stronger.
Don’t forget to include your private and social goals. Many rich people complain that they have all the freedom that money can buy - but money can’t buy the time to enjoy what they have earned.
2. Plan, Plan, Plan
If the number one key to success in retailing is location, location and location, the number one key to success in business is plan, plan, plan.
Remember the 5 Ps success model - Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance. (When I was taught this in the military there was a 6th P - for the sake of a mixed audience I have left this out. Use your imagination - you’ll guess what it was :-))
If you’ve done your goal setting you know what you are going to achieve. The point of planning is how you are going to do it. Break each goal down into constituent steps needed for its achievement. For each step decide what, who, where and when it is to be done.
Be realistic and make sure that every step is achievable in the time set. Be prepared - when you plan-out all that you need to do, the amount of work can be daunting. Better to know this up-front than sale merrily into a venture only to find it is a huge monster that is going to take you a lifetime to kill.
3. Action Counts
I’ve seen some beautiful plans. Highly researched, well thought out and presented. I’ll talk to a business owner and they’ll say, “We’ve got a plan” and, after searching around for a while, pull it out of the bottom draw of a filing cabinet.
“So, why aren’t you using it”, I’ll ask. Nine times out of 10 the plan was produced to obtain funding. Despite the really good work to produce the plan once finance is received the plan is put to one side and ignored.
Big mistake. Taking action is the only thing that counts. And the plan ensures that your actions deliver your goals.
Every successful business I have looked at has clear, current business, operational and marketing plans. It doesn’t matter whether your business is offline or online - effective plans deliver results.
4. Another 5 ‘P’s to Success
Passion - You have to believe in what you are doing. No where is this more obvious than on the internet. You can spot the ‘me-too’ advertisers in a second. The people who succeed are the ones in have passion, who truly believe in what they are doing. So do something that you love.
Push - No matter how good your plan you have to provide a big push to get it moving. Your plan inevitably involves change. Achieving change takes effort. Think of it as if you were trying to move a boulder. To get that boulder up and moving takes a lot of muscle and effort. Once it is moving though it becomes much easier.
Persistence - Getting started is relatively easy. Afterall, you are all fired up with energy and enthusiasm at that time. Few things worth achieving happen over night. Instead, there will be problems, hold-ups and frustrations. Don’t allow yourself to become disillusioned or demotivated. You need persistence.
Patience - Results don’t happen instantly. Allied to persistence you will need some patience.
Profit - OK, OK it’s trite. But follow the steps here, gear yourself to provide these 5 Ps and you will succeed.
No one can guarantee your success whether in life or in business. You can dramatically increase your chances of success through these four simple, very well established principles.
The question is, “WILL YOU”?
Topics: Motivation | No Comments »
7 Free Ways To Promote Your Business!
By Dave Blake | July 23, 2007
1. Free Classifieds: If you have the time to post you ads on classified sites , then this is a good place for you to start. Placing classified ads does work, but this method of advertising will take some time before you will start to see results. You will need to continually submit your ad to these sites , so your ad will stay near the top of the pages of these sites. Not everyone will get the same results with free classified advertising. The results I may get , may not be the same as the type of results you may get. It will depend on your ad title , how long your ad has been running , and what type of ad you are using.
Simply search the web for free advertising sites. The list will be long , you will need to find sites that will work for you. Free classifieds take a lot of time ,and effort. Results will show , but you will need to work at it hard , and on a regular basis.
Here are a few classified sites listed:
AZ Free Classifieds Ad Listings
http://www.freeclassifieds.com/
1 Stop Free Internet Classifieds
Free Classified Advertising And Promotion
Free Classifieds - USFreeads.com
Free Classsified Ads
http://www.a-better-way.com/classified/
Alberta Rose FREE Classifieds
Money-At-Home.Com Free Classifieds! Place Your Free Ad Today
http://www.money-at-home.com/classifieds.html
Ablewise.com Classifieds - The Online Classifieds Solution
Home Business Opportunities Work At Home And Make Money Online
Business Opportunities Classifieds Online - Small Business
2. Free E-zine Ads: most ezines give away free ads to new subscribers of their ezines. Since the ezines have been requested by their subscribers , this is another good place to start.
Here are some E-ZINES listed:
The Free Directory of Ezines
A list of 500+ free ezines! E-zines and on-line newsletters publications
http://www.powerpub.com/zinelist.htm
Free Ezines Directory
http://www.readers.freeservers.com/ezinedirectory.html
3.Writing articles: Writing articles for distrubution in other ezines , newsletters , etc is a great FREE method for sending traffic to your site. This gives you the opportunity to write about something you know , and will give you free advertising in your resource box. Lots of people are looking for new content for their ezines, or newsletters , so getting published will provide free advertising.
4.Include your URL on everything , like business cards , stationary ,etc. This is also a good source for promotion of your business.Some good places to leave your business cards are: local stores , banks , restraurants ,etc.
5.Flyers: Print out some flyers advertising your business. Post these flyers at shopping centers , grocery stores , laundry mats , local colleges , apartment complexes , car window , etc. There are so many places where you can put flyers , you just need to be creative.
6.Reciprocal Linking: This is where you will look for other sites that are similar to your [work at home sites , business sites , etc] and you will set up a link exchange. You put there link on your site , and they in turn put your link on their site. Be selective about which sites you put your link on. Most of the time , these sites will exchange links with you. This method of advertising can get you listed in major Search Engines and give you a good web site ranking. In my oponion this is by far , the best free method of advertising
7.E-mail Signature: Install a “Signature” in your E-mail program. This method can help you get people to get in touch with you , and want to know more about your business. Most E-mail programs such as , AOL , MSN , NETSCAPE , and OUTLOOK, allow you to add a “Signature” line at the end of your out going e-mail messages. It should only be 6-8 lines. Company Name , Address , Phone Number , URL ,e-mail address , and a small description. Look for examples on e-mail messages that have been sent to you.
Topics: Success | 1 Comment »
12 Ways to be a Confident Public Speaker
By Dave Blake | July 22, 2007
Speak from your heart. If you believe in what you say, than others need to hear it. All confident speakers fall in the P2 (passion plus persistence). Be sure your speech contains your most fundamental beliefs and comes from authenticity.
1. Prepare, prepare, prepare!
2. Practice in front of a full-length mirror, for small groups. Join Toastmasters. www.toastmasters.org
3. Be positive. “I am a good speaker/trainer.”
4. Expect to be nervous. [deep breathe, exercise by walking, stretch, visualize your success, meditate] Make anxiety your ally. Increase your energy; heighten your awareness.
5. Focus on your audience. [It is NOT about you. You are there to help your audience]
6. Simplify. Use your time wisely and keep your presentation clear and simple so that your audience can understand what you are saying.
7. Connect with your audience. Look people in the eye, one at a time, as you speak to them. The audience wants you to succeed.
8. Act confident. Smile. Hold your chin up. Stick your chest out. When you do this, you will feel confident. Remember, YOU are the authority on the subject and they want to hear what you have to say.
9. Use humor wherever possible.
10. Offer the right message mix (inform, persuade, entertain, interact)
11. Establish credibility by the use of facts, statistics, and stories.
12. Learn from your mistakes. Making mistakes is part of your learning process. Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, said, “Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.”
Topics: Success | 2 Comments »