Your #Career : The 7 Best Websites for Landing a Freelance Gig with Skills you Already Have…Whether you are Looking to Earn some Extra Pocket Money, Turn a Hobby into a Side Job or Go Freelance Full-Time, There are a Number of Incredibly Helpful Resources at your Disposal.

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This time last year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that 15.5 million people in the United States were self-employed. By 2020, that number is expected to shoot to roughly 60 million, or more than 40% of our nation’s workforce.

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                                            The rise of the freelance economy is palpable.

Coffee shops and coworking spaces abound with freelancers plugging away on their laptops, and office spaces are increasingly empty as the best and brightest leave traditional work behind to claim more flexibility and autonomy in their jobs.

Whether you are looking to earn some extra pocket money, turn a hobby into a side job or go freelance full-time, there are a number of incredibly helpful resources at your disposal.

Here are the seven best sites for finding work as a freelancer today.

1. Toptal

Toptal is a freelance network of elite software engineers and digital designers from over 100 countries around the world. The company’s screening process weeds out all but the top 3 percent of talent in multiple categories, which means that once accepted, you’ll join an exclusive community of experts.

Toptal lets you decide if you want to work hourly, part-time or full time, and you set your own rates so you’ll never be stuck in a bidding war. What’s perhaps best for freelancers is that Toptal also screens clients — and works with top companies like AirBnB, IDEO and JP Morgan— so you’ll always have a steady supply of interesting projects and clients who appreciate the value of your work.

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2. Upwork

In 2014, two leading freelance networks, Elance and oDesk, merged to form Upwork, which is now the largest network for freelancers by a long shot. With more than 10 million registered users, four million clients, and three million jobs posted every year, Upwork has something to offer for everyone from writers and architects to legal aides and photographers.

You can sign up for short-or long-term projects, and elect to work by the hour or be paid per-project. The site features an easy-to-use chat feature, a time-tracker and a payment protection plan to make communication and collaboration with your client a breeze.

 

3. 99 Designs

99 Designs is a freelance job site with a twist. As its name suggests, the platform is exclusively for designers, and every job comes members in the form of a contest.

Rather than browse through a catalog of portfolios and résumés, clients are prompted to crowdsource their projects, setting a budget and giving instructions, then letting designers submit work based on the project brief. At the end of a week, the client chooses the best design, and that designer gets paid. This is a great site for designers looking to really test their talents and shake up their workflow.

4. PeoplePerHour

PeoplePerHour is a freelance site for all skills related to web projects, including software engineers, digital designers, SEO specialists and marketers.

The site features a tool called WorkStream, which simplifies the business side of your work by organizing payment, communication and management, all in one place. You can browse jobs, get notifications for new openings to your inbox and send up to 15 proposals for work for free before signing up for the premium plan.

 

5. LinkedIn Profinder

With over 420 million members in over 200 countries, LinkedIn is indisputably the go-to place for learning about all things job-related. Recently, LinkedIn decided to begin its foray into the freelance economy by quietly launching LinkedIn Profinder, which is helping freelance professionals find their next job.

Because of its enormous amount of user data, LinkedIn is able to quickly connect freelancers with strong leads based on their keyword searches and companies followed. Profinder is a great option for expert professionals in countless fields.

6. SimplyHired

SimplyHired offers the largest variety of freelance jobs of any site on this list. From construction to concierge work, the site boasts a bounty of opportunities for anyone seeking extra work, and it helps freelancers find jobs in over 24 countries. It also isn’t limited to English-language work, offering 12 different languages in which you can find jobs.

7. Freelance Writing Gigs

Freelance Writing Gigs is a job board that is updated daily with fresh freelance writing and blogging jobs. The offerings vary from technical writing positions to writing about recipes, photography and healthcare, making it a great site for writers interested in testing their hand at different types of professional writing.

Whether you’re an expert programmer looking to leave the office world forever or an amateur photographer looking for hourly gigs, there’s something on this list for you. Check out these sites to join the ranks of the rapidly growing freelance economy!

Read the original article on Entrepreneur. Copyright 2016. Follow Entrepreneur on Twitter.

Businessinsider.com | July 9, 2016 |

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#Leadership : 6 Tools for Monitoring Your Online Reputation…Monitoring what People Say about You & your Business May seem Overwhelming, but there are Quite a few Free or Low-Cost Tools to Help you Monitor your Online Reputation.

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If people are talking about you and your business online, you want to know about it. As a small business, it’s important to monitor your online reputation. Gaining the trust of consumers will make or break your company.

question mark signs painted on a asphalt road surface

Positive reviews and word of mouth marketing equate to trust and most people flock to online sites to review a business or get the opinion of friends and acquaintances. It’s essential to your business that you monitor what customers are saying so that you can promote the positive reviews and make amends with the negative.

Monitoring what people say about you and your business may seem overwhelming, but there are quite a few free or low-cost tools to help you monitor your online reputation.

1. Google Alerts.

Google Alerts can be thought of as a customized Google search that sends you notifications when new content is added for keywords that you’ve specified. The service scans and pulls information from relevant web pages, blogs, research, or articles within the Google network.

Setting up a Google Alert is free and can be done in only a few steps. Simply enter the search terms you want alerts for, choose the type of results you want Google to send you, and then select how often you want to receive alerts and where the alerts should be delivered.

Related: 3 Ways to Manage Your Online Reputation Like a Pro

 

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2. Naymz.

Naymz is a tool that can help you track and manage your social influence, which is closely correlated to your online reputation. The higher your influence, the more positive your reputation will be.

RepScore is Naymz’s program that rates your online influence across different social networks in a relative comparison to other members. It assesses what your peers think about you, whether or not others listen and engage with you and what makes you unique and valuable as an influencer. From there, it gives you a score between one and 99 (with 99 being the best) and ranks your influence level as builder, established, top member, or elite member compared to other Naymz members.

Related: Why Online Reputation Management Is Like Brushing Your Teeth

3. Yext.

Yext is a helpful site to visit if you want to manage your online listings on location and review sites (such as Yellow Pages or Yelp) to make sure the information posted is correct.

The PowerListings tool will tell you the error rate of the information posted, where those errors occurred, and where information about your business isn’t listed at all, so you can have it corrected to ensure customers will have the means to reach you. All you have to do is enter your business’ name, phone number, address and zip code and the program will scan all of the local listing and review sites in its database.

Bonus: Try also associating a hashtag with your brand, and encourage your customers and followers to use it as well. It gives you another option to search for when you’re monitoring your brand mentions.

4. Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a social media management tool that allows you to maintain all of your social media networks in one place. You’re able to schedule future messages, listen and engage with your followers, and view in-depth social media analytics in order to see how your content is being perceived and make improvements where they’re needed.

You can connect three social profiles, schedule messages, and receive basic analytics report for free. But if you’re willing to upgrade for just $10 a month, Hootsuite Pro will give you the ability to connect up to 50 social profiles, schedule your messages in bulk, and receive more enhanced analytics reports.

5. Reputology.

For about $25 a month, Reputology is a site that provides analytics for customer service management and alerts you with time-sensitive emails about any negative customer experiences. It sends you a detailed summary report of consumer feedback that will help you to respond quickly to your customers and identify any areas of improvement within your business. It also integrates with Hootsuite and other social media management tools.

Related: How to Clean Up an Online Reputation

6. Complaint Search Box.

Created by Go Fish Digital, Complaint Search Box is a website set to perform a specialized Google search on over 40 complaint websites. It’s a quick and easy way to perform free daily searches to make sure customers aren’t having negative experiences with you or your brand.

Bonus Tools.

While all of these tools can help you manage your online reputation in-depth, sometimes daily maintenance of your online reputation can be as simple as searching for your name on Google or a social media site.

Try also associating a hashtag with your brand, and encourage your customers and followers to use it as well. It gives you another option to search for when you’re monitoring your brand mentions.

Attend our free webinar July 12 and discover SEO, social media and content tactics to boost your brand’s online visibility. Register Now »

 

Entrepreneur.com | July 7, 2016 | Alexa Matia

 

 

Your #Career : Unemployed? Use This Trick to Deal with a Tough Job Search…Welcome to the Job Search Doldrums. The Longer you’re Out of Work, the Harder it is to Stay Positive & Keep your Motivation Up.

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Being unemployed is a drag. Tales of “fun employment” aside, life after a job loss – especially one that comes without any warning – is often rough both financially and emotionally. In the days after you’re let go, you’re likely busy updating your resume, adding contacts on LinkedIn, and sending out cover letters. But after an initial spurt of activity, you may get frustrated if your job search efforts don’t seem to be yielding results.

If your résumé is hard to read, no one will.

After a few weeks of unemployment, your resolution to meet up with your old co-workers for coffee turns into a commitment to keeping up with the Kardashians. Your goal of applying for two or three jobs per day suddenly seems too ambitious – now you’re barely applying to two or three jobs per week. And you can’t remember the last time you put on real pants (no, pajamas don’t count) and left the house.

Welcome to the job search doldrums. The longer you’re out of work, the harder it is to stay positive and keep your motivation up. The unemployed are more likely to report being treated for depression than people with full-time jobs, a 2013 Gallup survey found, with the rate of depression increasing the longer someone has been out of a job. Those who’d been unemployed for half a year or more also reported being less happy and were more likely to be socially isolated than people who had jobs or hadn’t been out of work for months.

“Using cognitive behavioral skills, people can overcome some of the negative thinking that may be holding them back and making it less likely to succeed in their job search,” Strunk said.

It’s not clear whether unemployment triggers depression or other psychological problems, or if “unhappy or less positive job seekers are less likely to be able to get jobs in the first place,” according to Gallup. In either case, job seekers who are struggling to keep their spirits up need a way to turn things around. Now, researchers at Ohio State University have pinpointed specific skills that might help depressed job seekers find work.

Unemployed people who used skills taught as part of cognitive behavioral (CB) therapy for depression were more likely to find a new job, according to the study, which was published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

“Searching for a job is difficult in any circumstance, but it may be even more difficult for people who are depressed,” Daniel Strunk, an associate professor of psychology at Ohio State and a co-author of the study, said in a statement. “But we found that there are specific skills that can help not only manage the symptoms of depression but also make it more likely that a person will receive a job offer.”

Seventy-five unemployed people participated in the study. Each took two surveys, three months apart, completing a variety of questionnaires designed to measure symptoms of depression and other psychological variables, like brooding and a “negative cognitive style.” They were also asked how often they used cognitive behavioral skills, like rethinking negative thoughts or breaking up overwhelming tasks into smaller chunks.

The more a person relied on cognitive behavioral skills, the greater the likelihood of their depressive symptoms improving in the months between the two surveys. The unemployed people who used CB skills were also more likely to have received a job offer in the intervening months than those who didn’t draw on those coping techniques.

 

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“The people who got jobs in our study were more likely to be putting into practice the skills that we try to teach people in cognitive therapy,” Strunk said. The study didn’t ask whether people had learned their coping skills in therapy or not, but Strunk said most likely came by those skills without additional help or guidance.

“Some people just naturally catch themselves when they have negative thoughts and refocus on the positive and use other CB skills,” he said. “These are the people who were more likely to find a job.”

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) teaches you how to overcome negative thinking so you can respond more effectively to life’s challenges and stressors. While it’s frequently part of the treatment for conditions like PTSD, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and depression, the techniques practiced during CBT can “help anyone learn how to better manage stressful life situations,” according to the Mayo Clinic.

In the case of the unemployed, relying on CB skills may make it easier to deal with common job search frustrations like hearing, “Thanks, but no thanks,” from a prospective employer. “Rejection is so much a part of the process of job seeking. Using cognitive behavioral skills are an important way one can deal with that,” Strunk said.

The researchers want to conduct more research into the link between CB skills, depression, and job search behaviors. For now, the study results suggest that job seekers, especially those who are depressed, may benefit from either drawing on their natural coping skills or working with a therapist who can help them learn new strategies to manage the stress of being unemployed and find a new job.

“Using cognitive behavioral skills, people can overcome some of the negative thinking that may be holding them back and making it less likely to succeed in their job search,” Strunk said.

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CheatSheet.com | July 7, 2016 | Megan Elliott 

Your #Career : Job Hunting? 5 Red Flags That Tell You a Job Sucks…A Promotion is Great & so is Advancing your Career, But to Make those Things Worth It, You also Have to be At a Company that’s a Good Fit for You & your Future Goals.

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In the midst of a job search, it can be easy to get frustrated and take the first offer that comes your way. Maybe you’ve been laid off and desperately need to start getting a paycheck again. Perhaps you’re looking to get a pay raise and are looking to switch companies to make it happen faster. Whatever your motivation, it’s easy to fall into the trap of believing the companies have all the power. Yes, they’re ultimately the ones with jobs to offer. However, you have just as much choice in the process, and it’s important to keep an eye out for warning signs that a company might be a dud.

Free- Direction Rail Tracks

A promotion is great and so is advancing your career, but to make those things worth it, you also have to be at a company that’s a good fit for you and your future goals. In addition, you need to make sure that your next potential employer has a plan for long-term success. It might be difficult to know those items line up 100% before taking a job, but there are definitely warning signs out there for when a company might not be poised for long-term success. All you have to do is look for them.

Job search: Company red flags

So what are some warning signs that a potential job might not be all that it’s cracked up to be? In many cases, it begins with taking a closer look at the company itself. The Cheat Sheet talked with Jesse Siegal, vice president atThe Execu|Search Group, a recruitment and workforce management firm, to get a better idea of what to watch for as you’re researching potential new jobs.

“With unemployment being as low as it is, we’re looking at this as a candidate-driven market,” Siegal said. “If they’ve got choices, they should make sure they’re making the best ones they can.” The following warning signs don’t mean you should write off a job or company immediately, but do signal that it might be wise to dig a little deeper, and see if there’s a good explanation for the lapse. If there’s not, it might serve as a reason to choose an equally tempting offer from another company.

1. The website is outdated

If the website of a potential employer looks like it hasn’t been updated since AOL was the email server of choice, it might serve as a warning that the company isn’t up to date. Maintaining a current website with the latest updates can be expensive and time-consuming, especially since most companies can’t afford to keep a web developer on the payroll full-time. However, if it’s clear the website hasn’t been updated in 15 or 20 years, “It may speak to how that company appreciates technology,” Siegal said.

If your industry isn’t dependent upon current technology, this might not be a deal-breaker. But it might be a reason to look a little deeper at how the company plans to keep current, especially if they’re not paying attention to the driving force of the internet.

 

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2. They’re not active on social media

This can go hand-in-hand with the philosophy on keeping an updated website, and not every firm will be as present on social media as a Silicon Valley startup. However, most companies will maintain a Facebook or Twitter page, if only to share company updates or promotions and allow their customers to reach them through another medium. “Not every industry is going to be as active on social media as another, but it does resonate with an audience,” Siegal explained.

For the most part, companies will need to have some presence on social media to compete in a new media landscape. If the company you’re looking at doesn’t have a Facebook page, they might have a good reason for it — or it might be a sign the company isn’t prepared to compete online. Either way, it’s worth investigating, Siegal said.

3. They get bad press — and a lot of it

If a company has been around for more than a few years, it’s not totally abnormal for them to experience a bit of bad press for one issue or another. But if a firm is consistently finding itself in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, it might be a sign that it’s unwilling or unable to remedy deep-seeded issues. “If there are articles all over the internet about an organization’s questionable practices, it may be best not to be affiliated. If the negative press is severe enough, working there could even hinder your ability to get hired in the future,” Execu|Search stated in a release.

Siegal went on to explain that if you see negative news about the company you might apply to, do some extra searching to see if you can spot any patterns, either in frequent problems or underlying themes. Finding multiple instances of employee wrongdoing could speak to larger problems within the company that haven’t surfaced yet — and you might not want to be employed by them when they do.

4. There are numerous customer complaints

Bad reviews on Yelp and the Better Business Bureau are a dime a dozen, and sometimes are simply sour grapes that’s largely undeserved. However, it’s worth your time to at least look at what customers have to say about the company in question. If there are more complaints than praises, it could serve as an initial warning.

Common sense tells us that people are motivated to write reviews when they’ve had an excellent experience, or a truly horrible one. Most times, there’s a little more motivation to write a scathing review, meaning you’re more likely to see those pop up online. “You’re going to want to take them with a grain of salt, but you shouldn’t ignore them,” Siegal said. As with bad press, analyze the complaints for trends and patterns. If you don’t see any, it might add up to nothing. If you do see recurring issues, however, it might mean that the company has systemic issues at play.

5. Employees complain, too

With online resources like Glassdoor and PayScale, it’s becoming easier than ever to get on-the-ground feedback about what it’s like to work for certain companies. Based on current and previous employee input, you can learn about the average pay, office culture, and other elements that go into working at a certain company. If a quick search pulls up a company profile with numerous employee complaints, you probably want to tread cautiously before accepting an offer.

“A lot of times, the people who write on Glassdoor are the people who had a negative experience,” Siegal said. However, he also said that numerous complaints — especially about similar problems — are a signal that a company might not be prioritizing the needs of its employees. If you appreciate feeling like an office drone, that might be fine with you, but in most cases you want to know that you’ll be respected in your new position.

What should you do with these signs?

As Siegal mentioned, it’s important to fully vet a company before heeding one or a few of these warning signs and rescinding your job application. After all, it’s impossible to know everything about a company from a few Google searches. “We shouldn’t lose the human element to job searching,” he said. “A lot of times, there’s more to it than what you’re reading online.”

When possible, seek out employees from the company in question and talk with them about their experiences. If you can do this before even stepping into an interview, that can only help you in the long run, Siegal suggested. “Talking to actual people to confirm the things that you’re reading — or maybe to refute the things that you’re reading — is really important,” he said.

After that, if you still have some reservations but proceed with the interview process, take the opportunity to ask human resources about your concerns. Siegal doesn’t suggest doing so in the first interview, but if you make it to subsequent rounds, don’t be bashful about asking the questions you have in an appropriate, professional way. “You’re in the driver’s seat,” Siegal said. “It’s your career, it’s your future. It’s better that you ask it up front than wait and find out the hard way.” And as long as you’re respectful and present your concern in a constructive way, it can be another litmus test about the company’s culture. “If a company is offended by asking the question, then that in itself could be a red flag,” Siegal said.

Follow Nikelle on Twitter @Nikelle_CS

CheatSheet.com | July 7, 2016 | 

Your #Career : The 15 Best Freelance Websites to Find Jobs…Whether you’re a Programmer, Designer, Expert, College Student or Something in Between, there’s a Freelance Platform Out there for You. Check out the Sites Below to Get started Today!

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Whether you’re looking for another way to pay the bills, seeking more professional development opportunities or just love the freedom that freelancing offers, there’s no question that millions of people have discovered the benefits of professional freelancing. As trends like the digital nomad lifestyle grow in popularity, the number of freelance resources out there has increased as well.

Free- Man at Desktop at Night

There are plenty of guides for striking out on your own, but as a freelancer, getting higher-paying gigs isn’t just a matter of signing up on popular platforms. You’ll have to branch out, establish a great portfolio of past work and maybe even prove yourself through tests that showcase your skills. Here’s a list of the 15 best sites to find work as a freelancer.

1. Upwork

With over 1.5 million clients, Upwork (previously oDesk) offers something for every type of freelancer. It accommodates both short- and long-term projects, hourly or per-project work and expert-level and entry-level engagements. Regardless of where you are in your career, Upwork is likely to have something for you.

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2. Toptal

With a distinctly different approach than the other services on this list,Toptal is for seasoned, talented freelancers. Passing Toptal’s screening process gives you unparalleled access to meaningful projects with great clients (JPMorgan, Zendesk, Airbnb, etc.) and fair compensation (no low-bid contests). You’ll also be able to join the Toptal community for frequent meetups and tech events.

3. Elance

Elance removes a lot of the hassle that comes with freelancing. You’ll be able to make a profile right away without jumping through any hoops, enjoy payment protection to ensure you’re always paid for the hours you work and more.

4. Freelancer

Unlike most other platforms, in addition to offering millions of projects, Freelancer allows you to compete with other freelancers in contests to prove your skills. If you’re competitive and confident in your expertise, it’s a great way to showcase your abilities and attract more clients.

5. Craigslist

Although most people see Craigslist as just a platform for buying and selling miscellaneous things, it’s actually a great source of freelance jobs. You can easily browse for local offerings if you prefer something in-office, or you can search by major cities if you prefer working remotely.

6. Guru

This site lets you easily showcase your past work experience and offers a daily job-matching feature to make sure you don’t miss out on any good opportunities. The Guru Work Room lets you easily manage all your work.

7. 99designs

A platform for freelance designers, 99designs lets you compete in design contests and get feedback as clients choose the best ones. It’s a great way for talented designers to prove their talents.

8. Peopleperhour

This is a great platform, focusing on freelancing for web projects. If you’re a designer, web developer, SEO specialist, etc., peopleperhour is definitely worth checking out.

9. Freelance Writing Gigs

Whether you’re a writer, editor, blogger, publisher or any combination of those, Freelance Writing Gigs is a great option for freelancers who have a way with words.

10. Demand Media

Demand Media is a platform for creative types, including writers, filmmakers, producers, photographers and more. You work with the site to create unique content, engage audiences and promote your talents.

11. College Recruiter

As the name might suggest, College Recruiter is for college students or recent graduates looking for freelance jobs of any type. In addition to being a source for part-time work, it can be a great way to jumpstart your career.

12. GetACoder

This site is for freelance writers, web designers and programmers — exactly what small businesses need to get a website idea off the ground. GetACoder offers millions of smaller-scale projects to choose from.

13. iFreelance

This platform accommodates some of the usual suspects of the freelancing world (writers, editors, coders, etc.) but also features freelance marketers as well. Unlike other sites, iFreelance lets you keep 100 percent of your earnings.

14. Project4hire

With hundreds of project categories, Project4hire makes it easy to identify jobs that suit your skillset, without scanning through large volumes of posts. It’s great for coders, consultants, designers and more.

15. SimplyHired

With a wider range than most other freelance platforms offer,SimplyHired is perfect for everyone from salespeople to construction workers. It includes a blog with hiring tips, a company directory and location-based search.

Whether you’re a programmer, designer, expert, college student or something in between, there’s a freelance platform out there for you. Check out the sites above to get started today!

Entrepreneur.com | May 12, 2015 | Anna Johansson

#Leadership : Bringing Yourself Out of a Slump 4 Steps to Getting the Results you Want in Business–and in Life… What can You Do Differently to Create more Positive Results in your Work & Personal Life?

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Changing our behavior to achieve better results is the most important challenge we face in trying to compete in this chaotic world. Maybe you’re in a slump or know deep down that you’ve accepted an average performance when a great one is possible. When you’re ready to change–to increase your sales, to take some calculated risks, to improve any and all aspects of your life–you may not know how to begin. What can you do differently to create more positive results in your work and personal life?

Free- Thinking Plasma Ball

First, accept the fact that if you’re not getting the results you want in any aspect of your life, it just might be you! It’s not somebody else’s fault. To achieve real change in your results, decide that this is your year. You must believe in yourself and your ability to make change happen. When you do, you’ll find that your belief naturally leads you to take action, and action is the only thing that brings results.

How to Begin
True change requires you to develop clear reasons why you won’t fail yourself and your family. So when you know what drives you, write it down. This process requires introspection, which you may not be used to, but in order for it to work, you need to take the time to quietly consider every aspect of your life (past, present and future) and commit it to paper.

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To embark on this process, consider the following:

Step 1: Where have you been? If you feel as if disappointing results are your destiny, they will be until you’re able to see the behaviors that lead to those results. So take 10 minutes to reflect on your accomplishments and your disappointments, big and small, and then write everything down. Consider and answer these questions for your career, family, health, faith, self-education, finances and recreation/fun.

What accomplishments am I most proud of?

What specific results have I achieved?

Have I been willing to do what I know it takes to do better?

What have been my biggest disappointments?

What did I learn from my disappointments?

Step 2: Where are you now? To change, you need to know where you are in the present moment, as well as where you’ve been. Make an honest written assessment of where you are in your life right now in the areas listed above. Where have you lowered the bar and accepted it? Think in terms of keeping score and getting clear on the actual numbers you have right now. Look at the truth! Getting disgusted with your current situation is a heck of a motivator.

Another area to be honest about is your personal health. Health and energy level is the Achilles heel for most people. The number-one killer in the nation is heart disease, and almost half those who have a heart attack die from their first one. So you can see the necessity of getting honest with yourself right now about your heath, as well as other aspects of your life. To draw a detailed health picture, go to a professional and find out:

What’s my current weight compared to where I want to be?

What are my blood pressure, cholesterol level, triglyceride level, and EKG readings?

What’s my standing heart rate? Can I run a mile? How quickly do I recover after exercise?

How often do I work out a month? Am I too tired at the end of the day to enjoy myself?

Step 3: Where do you want to go? Allow yourself to fantasize about what specifically you want most in your life. First consider what you’d like to do immediately, then in the near future. What are the top specific, measurable outcomes you’d like to achieve within those time frames? Look to clarify and raise your personal standards of conduct. Make sure you have each of the key areas represented. It’s not the quantity, but the quality of the goals you set!

To give you an idea of the types of quality questions you should be asking yourself, take a look at the following examples of questions a person in sales should be asking themself to establish short- and long-term goals:

  • What am I committed to earning this year?
  • What percentage of my sales are from referrals?
  • How many new prospects will I contact a day? How many current clients will I contact?
  • How can I better document my successes with testimonial letters, quotes, and pictures?
  • What company award and/or incentive trip am I committed to winning?
  • What will I do each day to enhance my expert status and give more value to my clients?
  • Have I been doing what it takes to be great or have I been making excuses and fighting to be average?

Step 4: What’s my action plan and tracking method? Break your bigger goals into monthly and even weekly achievable steps. But keep in mind that the time-worn old advice to take gradual “baby steps” is seldom effective; you’ll get frustrated and discouraged if your new results don’t come quickly enough. Be bold! Making more radical changes will simply yield quicker results and establish forward momentum.

Next, create a goal sheet and action plan in any format that suits you: a time line; a monthly calendar with target dates and notes; pictures of the outcome you want with a simple list of the steps it’ll take to get there; or any other creative format that works for you. Make it easy to review your goals and higher personal standards daily by laminating your action plan and putting it in your shower, on your bathroom mirror or in your briefcase for easy daily review.

Radical changes you can make for better results include:

  • Take the time to write down why you’re committed to sticking with these radical changes. Focus on the joy of when you make the change, not the fear of failing. Write at least a paragraph to yourself. What kind of person do you want to be? How will you behave to become that person?Get up 30 minutes earlier at least four days a week for aerobic exercise.
  • Make 10 prospecting calls for new business every day by noon.
  • Contact three past customers every day and ask questions to uncover new opportunities.
  • Send one hand-written card a day to keep in touch with clients or praise an employee.
  • Limit fast-food intake to once a week. Bring a small cooler of healthy food to work/in your car.
  • Eliminate soda from your diet. Eat seven to nine servings of fruits and vegetables each day.
  • Focus only on the positive things your family’s doing or has done the first 30 minutes at home.
  • Write a written outcome before you make every sales presentation. Tape it and review.
  • Take the time to write down why you’re committed to sticking with these radical changes. Focus on the joy of when you make the change, not the fear of failing. Write at least a paragraph to yourself. What kind of person do you want to be? How will you behave to become that person?

The Rewards of Change
Whether you make change happen or not, it’s going to happen; that’s the way life is. And the results of passively waiting to see what happens next–of letting life decide for you–can be completely opposite from what you’d choose for yourself. Don’t wait for a crisis!

While making a radical change can be an intimidating prospect at first, the rewards are many and will come quicker than you might imagine. When you’re in control of your destiny, you’ll look back on your decision to change and realize it was the moment everything began to change. Mastering the ability to confront reality and make a change isn’t just a key strategy for business; it’s a necessity for life and perhaps the one skill most worth learning.

Chip Eichelberger is a motivational speaker and author whose clients include Ernst & Young, Tommy Hilfiger, Century 21 and Bank of America. His latest book, Think: Applying the Success Principles of 1918 Today, is available at www.getswitchedon.com

Entrepreneur.com | May 3, 2006 | Chip Eichelberger

Your #Career : How Getting a Promotion at Work Can Be a Bad Thing…Before Gunning for, or Accepting a Promotion, take Some Time to Consider the Trade-Offs.

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Earning a promotion can be (and usually is) a huge undertaking, and is a step forward that most people only make a handful of times during their career. In some cases, it means you actually have to switch jobs or work for a new company in order to earn another title. Or, you may just have to play the part of the corporate ‘yes man’ for enough years to finally get noticed. No matter how you do it, getting a promotion is usually a big deal.

Dwight Schrute after a promotion to regional manager in 'The Office' | NBC

But a big deal doesn’t always equal a good deal.

Promotions are typically sought-after feats because they come with additional responsibilities. When we’re given more responsibility, it usually means that we’re earning more money. Increasing your earning power, and stepping into a new role that offers a whole new range of possibilities and opportunities (perhaps you’ll finally get to work on a project you’ve been putting off, for example) are the chief reasons that most workers make the push.

So, how can that be a bad thing? Everyone wants to make more money, after all. But the responsibility part? Well, we may not want that. But if the money is good enough, most workers are happy to take it on. Where things get squirrely, and when a promotion can ultimately end up being a net negative, is where those two things don’t exactly line up.

A promotion and work-life balance

When we work, we are essentially selling our labor — or our time — to the highest bidder. With that said, the question becomes this: How much is your time worth? If you at least have an idea, then you’re on the right track.

Now, when we earn a promotion and have to start shouldering new responsibilities, we need to recalculate what our time is worth. The real trick here is to figure out what, exactly, is expected of you in your new role, and how that actually impacts your life. If you’re a salaried manager now, for instance, whereas before you were an hourly drone, you may actually end up making less money per hour than you did before. It completely depends on your individual circumstances.

Perhaps you actively despise managing people and making tough decisions? Were you happier in a production role, where you were performing the tasks and completing projects that you’re now only seeing on a spreadsheet from a manager’s perspective? That’s going to differ from individual to individual, but the key question to ask yourself is whether or not you’re happier post-promotion than you were before.

The pay raise that came along with the promotion and the additional elements of respect and clout that came with your new title likely helped. But in each individual circumstance, you’ll need to ask yourself whether or not you’re actually in a better place.

For some people, they may have been better off earning less money, but being happier in a non-managerial role.

 

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Time and money

As mentioned, time is money. You need to realize that in managerial roles — or at least positions higher up the chain — responsibilities compound, and you’re more likely to be spending more hours on the job. Your time is more valuable in these positions, but the stakes are higher. People (be it shareholders, board members, etc.) expect you to get things done, and not just shrug off your responsibilities and let your boss take the heat.

Again, for a lot of people, the pay raise that comes along with a promotion in these instances simply isn’t worth the additional stress that comes with these new responsibilities. That’s what you need to ask yourself before taking a promotion: How is this going to impact my health and happiness, not merely my paycheck?

If you work at a fast food restaurant, to use another example, and earn $10 per hour, would you be willing to accept a role as an assistant manager or manager, for a $2 per hour pay raise (or something similar), but with much greater responsibilities and longer hours? In that case, you may be better off staying in your current role, and keeping your sanity in check. Especially if you plan on using the extra time away from work to go to school or explore other career areas.

Before gunning for, or accepting a promotion, take some time to consider the trade-offs. Longer hours, more responsibility, and more money versus less stress and a lighter paycheck — depending on your personal preference, one may be a better fit for you. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t push for higher pay or a better deal with your employer (or a different employer), but giving the endgame some consideration before jumping into a new role should be the first thing you do when charting your career trajectory.

Follow Sam on Facebook and Twitter @SliceOfGinger

CheatSheet.com | July 4, 2016 |  Sam Becker

#Leadership : Follow the 70-20-10 Model to Train Your Employees … Only 32% of Employees in the U.S. are Engaged, Involved in, Enthusiastic about & Committed to their Work & Workplace, according to Recent Surveys by Gallup. That means More than Two-Thirds of Employees are Not Engaged.

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Today’s rapidly evolving workplace requires employees to constantly upgrade their skills. They must be equipped to find knowledge quickly, be proficient with technology and be able to interact and collaborate using a variety of communication tools.

Leader3

 

The new reality of training is the 70-20-10 model, in which learners get 70 percent of their knowledge from job-related experiences, 20 percent from interactions with others and 10 percent from formal educational events.

Forward-thinking training initiatives can help employees be successful in a rapidly evolving environment. Yet many companies continue to use old-school training methods that have failed to keep pace with major trends affecting the workplace.

A survey by Boston Consulting Group found that companies spend tens of billions of dollars globally each year to train employees, but the money often is wasted because “the training is not geared to drive business results.” It also discovered that business leadership training and talent development often overlook frontline leaders, who create value for customers and that the training employees do receive often doesn’t have a meaningful impact on business results.

According to “The Impact of Employee Engagement on Performance,” a 2013 report by Harvard Business Review Analytical Services, having a highly engaged workforce “not only maximizes a company’s investment in human capital and improves productivity, but it can also significantly reduce costs, such as turnover, that directly impact the bottom line.”

 

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Yet only about 32 percent of employees in the U.S. are engaged, involved in, enthusiastic about and committed to their work and workplace, according to recent surveys by Gallup. That means more than two-thirds of employees are not engaged.

Meanwhile, Millennials and Gen Xers are a growing majority of the workforce. Millennials last year surpassed Gen X as the largest cohort of the U.S. labor force.

These trends are driving many companies to take a hard look at costly, ineffective and time-consuming traditional training – the kind involving daylong workshops and “death by Powerpoint” presentations. Today’s employees want opportunities for on-demand, on-the-job training and feedback.

Progressive companies are opting for a more immersive, interactive and ongoing training approach that typically involves technology. Toward this purpose, many are utilizing microlearning – delivering training content in a bite-sized, on-demand format.

Microlearning can include anything from simple methods, such as directing employees to research topics online and reporting what they discover, to customized digital libraries that offer leaders and employees on-demand access to a constantly evolving set of topics.

Companies that utilize microlearning effectively focus on providing rich content in a variety of formats so learners can focus on the right knowledge and skills in multiple ways. Here are some tips for building more agile, effective and efficient training.

Offer flexible options.
Learners are no longer tied to their laptop or PC. They use Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest and other social media networks to get information. Give them specific skill-building content they can use in a moment of need via social media or other online tools.

Provide both short and long learning opportunities.
These can range from a 30-second video available on their phones, focusing on a specific job challenge, to in-depth e-learning courses and one-on-one coaching.

Make it practical and interactive.
Effective training shows employees the connection between what they are being asked to do and why. It should connect them with the specific skills and information they need to do their jobs, and give them opportunities to learn, practice and get feedback.

Make it social, and fun.
Including a social element that involves community sharing and learning, and perhaps gaming elements, will intrigue learners to return frequently.

The new reality of training is the 70-20-10 model, in which learners get 70 percent of their knowledge from job-related experiences, 20 percent from interactions with others and 10 percent from formal educational events.

I expect interactive, on-demand, on-the-job learning solutions will remain critical to helping companies remain agile and adapt to rapidly changing business environments, though the form of these solutions will undoubtedly continue to evolve. Be open to experimenting with new modalities to ensure learners get what they need.

 

Entrepreneur.com | July 5, 2016 | Amy Fox

Your #Career : 7 Face-to-Face Networking Mistakes That Could Kill Your Professional Image…While Face-to-Face Networking can result in Prospects(Jobs) Gravitating to you, it also Holds the Potential to Drive Them in the Opposite Direction. Could your Networking Habits be Turning Off other Professionals & Causing you to Lose Out on Business(Job) Opportunities?

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Despite all the online ways to link up with potential clients, I still believe making in-person connections needs to be a part of every business person’s networking regimen. When you’re face-to-face with people, you can form bonds more easily because they get a more complete picture of who you are through your voice, body language, and appearance.

networking

That’s powerful and wonderful … unless you get careless.

While face-to-face networking can result in prospects gravitating to you, it also holds the potential to drive them in the opposite direction. Could your networking habits be turning off other professionals and causing you to lose out on business opportunities?

Avoid these networking no-nos:

1. Interrupting conversations. “How rude!” That’s what I think when someone walks up without apology and interrupts a conversation I’m having with another person.  Although discussions won’t typically be too in-depth at networking events, it’s still in bad taste to cut off conversations between others.

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2. Practicing the “hard sell.” Want a surefire way to make connections eager to avoid you? Then push your products and services right from the start when meeting them. Doing so makes you appear aggressive as well as desperate—definitely not the impression you want to make!

3. Complaining. Remember, you’re there to connect with other professionals. While commenting on the venue location, décor, hors d’oeuvres, or other amenities can help ease you into a dialogue with someone, it can have a negative impact if your words are uncomplimentary. Others might perceive you as snide and ungracious.

4. Being all “me, me, me” and not taking an interest in others. Sure, you’re doing great things and everyone should know more about that. But you’ll do yourself a greater service if you forgo making yourself the center of attention and instead listen to what others have to share about their businesses. By asking open-ended questions and turning a keen ear to their needs, you can assess whether or not they may be a viable prospect. And then later you can follow up to share more about what you can offer them.

5. Having a few too many cocktails. Woot! Yes, networking functions often come in the form of mixers with a bit of a party atmosphere. But I’ve seen otherwise polished professionals turn into hot messes because they didn’t control their alcohol consumption at events.

6. Speaking ill of someone else in the room or about your clients. No, no, no. Don’t EVER do this. You never know who knows whom. Need I say more?

Despite all the online ways to link up with potential clients, I still believe making in-person connections needs to be a part of every business owner’s networking regimen. When you’re face-to-face with people, you can form bonds more easily because they get a more complete picture of who you are through your voice, body language, and appearance.

That’s powerful and wonderful … unless you get careless.

7. Dressing like you don’t care. Although many networking events are relatively casual, take care not to go too far with the informality. If you’re not sure what the dress code is, I recommend erring on the side of slightly overdressed. Worst-case scenario will be that you look a tad more professional than everyone else. No one will think less of you for that.

Done with attention to making a first-rate first impression, face-to-face networking can open doors to lasting professional relationships. Put your best, most engaging you out there every time—and take care to avoid networking missteps that could turn off prospective customers.

While face-to-face networking can result in prospects gravitating to you, it also holds the potential to drive them in the opposite direction. Could your networking habits be turning off other professionals and causing you to lose out on business opportunities?

 

Forbes.com | July 5, 2016 | Nellie Akalp, Contributor