Career Coach and Author Ford R. Myers Offers a Fool-Proof Plan to Find a New Job or Fix Your Current One in 2012
Americans make all kinds of New Year’s resolutions – to lose weight, to stop smoking, or spend more time with family and friends. However, you never hear anyone say, “I’m committed to improving my career status.”

Ford R. Myers, career coach, speaker and author of “Get The Job You Want, Even When No One’s Hiring,” (John Wiley & Sons, http://www.getthejobbook.com) has developed a simple six-step “power plan” designed to help individuals make the most of their current career or find a new and more satisfying one in 2012.

Step 1: Perform an Internal Audit
A comprehensive internal audit combines the job seeker’s personal values, a list of adjectives outlining one’s “ideal employer,” and a “perfect job description.” In addition, candidates should do an audit of their professional strengths, personal appearance and mental attitude – and make positive adjustments as needed.

Step 2: Update your Job Seeker’s “Took Kit”
Job seekers over-emphasize the resume because their other “tools” are weak or nonexistent. In order to master the job search process and maximize long-term career success, job seekers will also need written accomplishments, verbal presentations, a professional biography, a list of references, and letters of recommendation, among other useful tools.

Step 3: Networking: The Core of Your Search
The overwhelming majority of job seekers find their next career through networking. In order to achieve success, job seekers must have a proven system to follow. This includes a contact list, positioning statement (where you’ve been professionally), a departure statement (what happened to your last job), a list of targeted companies, networking meeting agenda, and request for help (access to a broader network and professional guidance – not a request for a job).

Step 4: Interviewing for Success: Better Interviews Get Better Offers
Interviewing can best be described as two-way story telling. Job seekers need to provide the interviewer with accurate, relevant, and value-centered stories about job performance. The interviewer needs to share the story of their company, describe the position in question, and explain specifically how they want you to fit into this picture.

Step 5: Salary Negotiations: The Rules of the Game
Even in the current economy, you don’t have to accept the first salary that is being offered. Salaries are fully negotiable. Get the employer to state a salary figure or range first. Perform extensive salary research, and practice negotiating extensively beforehand. Defer salary discussions until an offer seems imminent. And discuss salary only with the person who has the authority to negotiate the salary and hire you.

Step 6: Who’s Managing Your Career? A Guide to Perpetual Career Management
In today’s work world, if you’re not managing your career, no one is! This step focuses on concrete, practical steps to manage your career effectively over the long-term, including keeping all your success documents up to date, putting time aside every week for active networking, researching and being aware of the competition, and offering to help people in your network.

“Despite the current economy, many people are moving up the corporate ladder or finding excellent new careers. Those who are achieving success know how to ‘play the game’ and are fully prepared for every step of the career development process. Anyone can find career success in 2012 by properly executing the steps I’ve outlined above,” adds Myers.

For more information and other useful tips for achieving career success, visit www.getthejobbook.com.

Ford R. Myers is President of Career Potential, LLC. His firm helps clients take charge of their careers, create the work they love, and earn what they deserve! Ford has held senior consulting positions at three of the nation’s largest career service firms. His articles and interviews have appeared in many national magazines and newspapers, and he has conducted presentations at numerous companies, associations and universities. In addition, Ford has been a frequent guest on television and radio programs across the country. He is author of Get the Job You Want, Even When No One’s Hiring. More information is available at: www.getthejobbook.com and www.careerpotential.com.

Reprinted by permission of Ford R. Myers, a nationally-known Career Coach and author of “Get The Job You Want, Even When No One’s Hiring.” Download your free bonuses now at http://www.careerbookbonuses.com.

Does everyone have a side hustle these days?
Article provided by a Bizzie Living guest contributor
It seems like more and more people are working a full-time job and doing a little something on the side. I’ve been doing it for years it has become the norm for me. In fact the hardest part about transitioning into freelance work full-time is the lack of security. Before when I was freelancing I always had the full-time gig that brought in the real cash. The freelance money was like a bonus, extra cash that I could spend on the kids or extra camera gear for me!

It seems like I’m not the only one taking on more than one job. According to Career Coach and Author Ford R Myers, working full-time and as a freelancer is becoming America’s new career path. According to the U.S. Labor Department statistics, more than 6.9% of Americans are considered multiple job holders.

Myers, author of “Get the Job You Want, Even When No One’s Hiring,” has discovered that money isn’t the only reason why Americans are working harder and longer.

“In today’s unpredictable economy, workers can’t rely on their full-time jobs for their livelihood. They need to be self-reliant, not job reliant. That means if they were to lose their main position, they would still have a stream of income and the confidence that will put them ahead of others in a similar situation,” says Myers.

Many businesses treat all their customers exactly the same way and wind up sacrificing a lot of profit in the process.
Betsy Kruger is a Bizzie Living guest contributor

No customer wants to hear that you have other customers, but the truth is that you do. What’s more, no customer wants to hear that you have more important customers, but that’s also true.

According to marketing consultant Betsy Kruger, the problem is that many businesses treat all their customers exactly the same way and wind up sacrificing a lot of profit in the process.

“Virtually every business seeks to increase its profit, but few business leaders realize that a universal law predicts profit from customers,” said Kruger, author of Top Market Strategy: Applying the 80/20 Rule (www.BetsyKruger.com). “The law in play here is called the Pareto principle and it’s named for Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed in 1906 that 20 percent of the people consistently own 80 percent of the wealth. He also noticed that 20 percent of the pea pods in his garden contained 80 percent of the peas. Fast forward a century and recent research confirms that Pareto was right – the Pareto principle is universal and predicts results.”

“Extending the 80/20 rule to your business, you can expect the most profitable 20 percent of your customers to generate 80 percent of your profit. Kruger asserts the 80/20 rule predicts that customers in the top 20 percent will generate 16 times more profit than customers in the bottom 80 percent. Kruger’s book explains why this is true and demonstrates how to profit from the 80/20 rule. Her recommendations apply to any type of business. For example, if you are a distributor, you can quickly enact these three steps:

• Distinguish – Distinguish the most profitable 20 percent of your customers from other customers. Allocate one day a week to serving them with a top market strategy. Expect to make 80 percent of your usual weekly profits from only 20 percent of your customers.
• Target – Target similar prospects on the other four days of the work week. Allocate neither time nor other resources to serving customers in the bottom 80 percent. Admit they caused more problems than they’re worth.
• Convert – Convert these prospects into customers by using a top market strategy. Predict that these new customers will be highly profitable. Anticipate that your profits will quadruple.”

“Should we treat customers equally?” Kruger retorts, “Absolutely not! Your customers do not treat your business equally. Your top customers generate massive profits, whereas your other customers generate minimal profits. This means that your business can magnify its profits by targeting your most profitable customers. For example, Trustpoint Insurance personally services the top 20 percent of its customers, but automates services to its other customers. As a result, its sales force has the time to prospect for highly profitable new customers. This top market strategy is a classic win-win game plan: both sales commissions and profits have magnified at Trustpoint Insurance. A top market strategy for your business can be your win-win game plan.”

Betsy Kruger owns Strategic Power, a marketing consultancy committed to empowering world prosperity, one business at a time. She writes, speaks, and consults about the 80/20 rule. Business Expert Press released her book, Top Market Strategy: Applying the 80/20 Rule in August, 2011. Her book enriches marketing textbooks and shows business leaders how to profit from the 80/20 rule.

* photo credit by InspiredinDesMoines