Don’t let the recession knock you off course

What do you do when your well-thought out career plans come to a screeching halt due to a down turn in the economy? You rethink your strategy and remain agile.

The traditional hallmark of rising in the corporate world has been a steadily increasing salary, along with expanded responsibilities, promotions, and higher-ranking titles. When a company is struggling, raises are expendable, but you still have the opportunity for non-economic gains. If you take it in stride, maintain an optimistic attitude, and assume additional duties without complaint, you will be well positioned to reap the economic benefits when the economy turns around, as it always does. Add a comment

Ok, your job is like a home run: going, going, gone.

A bit of panic sets in- for good reason. Questions like: how will I tell my spouse/partner? What of this information do we share with our kids? How do I tell them? Will they understand? Will they panic?

Oh yeah, other stuff, like paying my mortgage, car payment, credit card bills…

It is a daunting task to just try and understand the financial impact of this news, never mind trying to logically- not emotionally- figure out your best course of action.

So, here are some basic ideas you can use when making decisions:

• The emotional reaction is real- I know because I have been there in your shoes- so don’t feel that you are alone in your reactions. It does not make you weak.
• The communication piece, telling your spouse/partner, - your just have to get this done and expect their reaction may also be emotional. In the New Age vernacular, “Give them their space”. Remember- this was tough for you to hear and now they are hearing it for the first time.
• A small indulgence may be appropriate to ease your pain- but pay cash, keep in under $100, and share it with your partner.

The money issue is a big one, maybe the 800 lb gorilla- so tackle it by peeling one banana at a time and not the whole bunch Add a comment

It’s about perspective, the strategy and solving problems.

For the past few years we have seen a rise in interest related to social media. More and more individuals and businesses have been trying to figure out what it is. Individuals have been using it to communicate with friends and colleagues. Businesses have begun to use it to reach out to their customers and prospects. As more and more businesses get involved with using this form of communication it is imperative that they understand what they are getting into. At this point, social media is more than an infant; it is a toddler that can have some serious temper tantrums. So let’s keep in mind that most people want to do the right thing, they just don’t know what it is. Add a comment

If your business is struggling to find quality talent to match your marketing and communication needs—without hiring a full-time creative team—you may not be looking in the right place.

Since 2004, Independent Communicators Alliance (ICA) has provided a community for experienced, creative communication professionals with their own businesses in fields such as writing, graphic design, marketing strategy and multimedia. Using ICA’s recently revamped website, businesses can quickly search for individuals in the group with specific industry or communication expertise, and then compare candidates to find the person they feel will best fit their needs.

I have been coaching high-quota Sales Professionals for many years and believe LinkedIn is one of the most important free sales tools available today.

Remember, LinkedIn is a professional tool for solving tasks.  It is not a cold calling list or directory of your target clients.  It IS a first place to check for current and future contacts and business, due to the high quality of the data when it is present. Since each profile is about an individual, automatic self-interest is generated for being well-represented on the web. 

If you look at a person’s profile, you will get all the information they choose to make available, and also you can get a sense of how much they use LinkedIn.  For example, you can note whether their Public Profile consists of their name vs. the pre-assigned random numbers and letters.  If they have personalized it they are likely using LinkedIn frequently.  Next, notice how many recommendations they have, how many connections they have, if they have a picture, and whether they filled out their profile. These factors all point to how comfortable they are with using LinkedIn, and possibly how receptive they will be in accepting your introduction. Add a comment

With literally hundreds of emerging Social Media related communities populating the internet on a daily basis, you almost always find a handful of organizations attempting to forcefully tap into the traffic, reputation, and resources of those communities.

Now please don't misunderstand my true message in this blog post. I truly believe in the core benefits of social media branding and marketing, such as "viral" and "grassroots" marketing, but I do not agree with marketers that take the "Guerrilla" part of "Guerrilla Marekting" too far, and ultimately turn their campaigns into more of a blitzkrieg type of "warfare marketing" campaign.


The Problem:

I ran across one such Marketing Group on Twitter this week. They had created a Twitter profile and dressed up the page in such a way that even Heinrich Himmler (Leader of the Nazi SS) would be proud. Posing as an entity from the NC Division of Tourism, and complete with the http://www.VisitNC.com URL in the Twitter profile, this "Guerrilla Marketing" Group has been luring Twitter members into following their account for a few days.

Earlier this week, they attempted to follow one of my Twitter accounts, and at first I was almost sold into the idea of following and supporting the State which I now call my home. However, after looking at their redundant and trivial posts, I realized that none of the posts up to that point had anything to do with anything outside of their goal of reaching one million Twitter followers. Add a comment

For our Hiring Manager perspective, I welcome Leigh Anne Lanier. Leigh Anne is Director of Retail Services for Verizon Wireless. In addition to her accomplished 13-year career managing, hiring, and training dedicated, high achieving team members for Verizon and Alltel, she was honored as a 2008 “Movers and Shakers” recipient presented by the Triangle Business Journal and was the 2007 inaugural recipient of the “Alltel Leader of the Year” award.

HIRING MANAGER INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

AC: Please give a one or two line description of Verizon Wireless:
LAL:  Verizon Wireless is the largest wireless provider with America’s largest and most reliable wireless network that includes 80 million strong mobile-to-mobile calling. Add a comment