1 Crucial Step to Building a Business With a Day Job - Classy Career Girl

1 Crucial Step to Building a Business With a Day Job Usually I give you a few different  steps to create a business or find a dream job on this blog. But, today I am narrowing it down to one really important thing. One  crucial thing I did to turn my side hustle into a full time-business. The one major thing that really helped me launch my business while  working my day job on the side. This one thing has come up over and over again in every interview and conversation I have been having lately.  How did you start? How did you make your first dollar? 1 Crucial Step to Building a Business With a Day Job The one thing  I did that really helped me launch my business was selling my product before it was ready.   I knew I really wanted to teach but I kept procrastinating. It was scary and I knew I needed a push and a little motivation to actually create the course and get my business started. I loved training and teaching people but I was really stuck in my day job. I hated it. So one morning before I went to work, I sent out an email. I had a small list less than 100 people.  I sent out an email before I went to work and announced a course I was having the next month called the Get Unstuck Bootcamp. I priced it at $97, linked to Paypal and went to work. I buried the link in my email that I set up for free with mailchimp. I was secretly hoping that no one would buy it because  then I would actually have to create the course. I was sitting in my cubicle at work and I opened up my phone. There it was. A $97 purchase. My first student  wasnt even in the US. She was in London. I had to create the course then. After that day, I went home and put together the course over the next month. I did the teaching and training live with the participants. Later on 4 others joined that first course back in 2012 so I had five total people. That is what got this all started. After that course, I ran it again and again. I improved it. Its now called Love Your Career Formula 2.0  and I have never been more proud of anything I have created. It all started by actually putting it out there and selling something before I was even ready. If there is anything you can do now right now to start selling before it is completely prepared and ready, do it. Do it now. I would love to hear your questions and comments in the comments below.

Why Employee Engagement Can Help with Successful Digital Adoption CareerMetis.com

Why Employee Engagement Can Help with Successful Digital Adoption Many business leaders know the important role that employee engagement plays in productivity, retention and the overall culture of the company.However, many fail to realize the connection that engagement has in successful digital adoption. The digital employee experience is such an integral part of the modern business structure, and the transformation cannot be successful without the help of an engaged employee body.evalIn fact, according to a study from McKinsey Quarterly Image Source â€" UnSplash.comEmployee burnout doesn’t just happen when it’s been too long since they’ve taken a vacation. Roughly 67 percent of employees surveyed by Gallup claims that they are physically and emotionally exhausted â€" a condition commonly known as burnout.This can lead to frustration, lack of motivation, and ultimately, it could cause many of your employees to look for work elsewhere.95% of HR teamshave seen a direct link between retention/turnover and high levels of burnout. If your company is a constant “revolving door” of new employees, it can be quite difficult to get very far when it comes to training and implementing new digital approaches.Furthermore, if an employee already feels overwhelmed with their current workload, it will likely be like pulling teeth to get them to engage with the digital adoption process and learn new systems.evalIn order to introduce new digital systems without adding to your employee’s current workload, consider new technical approaches that can make their lives a little bit easier.For example, automation can streamline many time-consuming tasks related to research or data entry. There are even virtual personal assistants that can take over daily tasks like scheduling meetings, coordinating calendars, or responding to common email inquiries.Another important thing to keep in mind is to consistently check in with your team members to prevent burnout from occurring in the first place. Team leaders and managers should be meeting with employees regularly to ensure that they have the support they need to complete all of their tasks.Creating this sense of support and belonging is extremely important for high engagement.evalSalesforce’s reportfound that employees who felt their opinion mattered to their superiors â€" and had the opportunity to share their thoughts â€" were 4.6 times more likely to perform better and have a favorable attitude regarding their workplace.Employees Must View the Digital Features as Tools, Not ReplacementsTwo key reasons why many employees are resistant to change in digital transformation are fear and a misunderstanding of what this technology means for their career. Studies show that 70% of Americansare fearful that their jobs will be obsolete due to automation and emerging tech within the next few years.SourceUnfortunately, this negative perception in regards to technology can certainly cause employees to disengage when it comes to digital adoption within the workplace.In order to cou nteract this, it is important to explain the direct benefits that digital adoption will have for the employees themselves â€" not just the business as a whole. When introducing new digital platforms and tools, employee engagement must revolve around learning how to make their jobs easier, not obsolete.In addition to improving productivity, the process of digital transformation can also help employees advance in their career by learning new skills that are valuable to have in the modern workforce. Companies that offer digital training and the opportunity to develop technical skills can attract and retain employeeswho value expansion and growth.Company Values Are Extremely PowerfulAccording to a report from Dimension Data, 54% of businesses found that their staff was often quite resistant to change. Furthermore, 53% of companies struggled to get the entire organization on board with digital adjustments.While there can be numerous reasons for this resistance, often the root cause is a lack of unified values and connection between employees and the business.When people truly care about the business they work for If a digital adoption aligns well with the purpose and morals of the organization, it’s more likely that employees will jump on the bandwagon and engage with the change.For example, The Hershey Companywas able to get their entire organization onboard by using technology to transform the HR department, which in turn improved the employee experience.The traditional process within such a large corporation often came with long wait-times for forms to be processed. The Hershey Company decided to utilize a new digital platform that eliminated much of the “middle-man” process within HR so employees could complete many of their tasks through a self-service system.This led to vast improvements in the employee experience â€" and the company reported a significant increase in overall engagement through this system, too.ConclusionCompanies that fail to change an d adapt to the modern digital world will soon become obsolete. However, the road to digital adoption is by no means simple and straightforward. There are numerous obstacles that stand in the way â€" one of those being the employees within the organization.evalIn order for this transformative journey to be successful, leaders must understand how to keep their employees engaged throughout the process. The way in which digital transformation is approached matters, and failing to get your team members on board with the changes will slow down the progression. Remember to keep these factors in check and always keep your employee’s experience as a top priority.

Can Losing Your Job Become An Opportunity - CareerAlley

Can Losing Your Job Become An Opportunity - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Picture the scene. One day, you curse the alarm clock as you get dressed for work. The next day, you lie down in bed, tired but awake and wishing your alarm clock could ring. But it doesnt ring. Youve lost your job, and the silent mornings have become your new routines. Youve got nothing to prepare for, no reason to get up. There are many reasons why you might find yourself unemployed. Getting fired is only one of them. But, more often than not, people in this situation have lost their job through no fault of their own. Tweet This At a time when everybody likes to talk about interview tips and career options, losing your job can feel like a step back. But dont think of it as a failure. Unemployment could be the key to unlock your next career opportunity. In short, its okay if the alarm clock doesnt ring this morning. You need to get up anyway; youve got plenty to do before you can release your new professional potential. Youre fired You need to protect yourself first There are many reasons why you might find yourself unemployed. Getting fired is only one of them. But, more often than not, people in this situation have lost their job through no fault of their own. This is precisely where a specialist unemployment lawyer can help you to secure your benefits and protect your rights. Indeed, when you depend on benefits to make ends meet at the end of your employment, you cant afford to stress out about delays or issues. Take time to relax too its a highly stressful situation Finding yourself out of work is never a comfortable situation. However, you can control how you respond to it. Letting it affect your attitude and your perception of yourself is only going to make things more difficult for you. You need to take the change to relax and recharge your batteries something that full-time employment never allows you to do! Dont let your unemployment define you. You are more than your job status. Being able to get back on the horse has everything to do with how you think of yourself in those hard times. Positivity is key to your success! Image by rawpixel from Pixabay It gives you more time to create something new out of your career If youve been toying with the idea of starting your own business, unemployment provides you with the opportunity to do just that. With plenty of time on your hands, you can devise career alternatives by launching a discount blog, a consulting service, or even a business planning agency. After all, why get back to the same old employment path? Recruiters are likely to want to question about your previous job, while clients wont. Unfortunately, people lose their jobs all of the time. There is nothing worse than going home and telling your spouse I lost my job. Companies go out of business, reorganize, merge or have job reductions to improve the bottom line. While every industry is different, all industries have felt the pain at some point and there is a knock-on impact on other businesses caused by job loss. Many people find themselves out of work and the difficulty of finding a new job is challenging to say the least I Lost my Job, Now What? It allows you to be yourself Working in a company forces you to respond to the expectations of your manager. Its a matter of fitting within the company culture. While some employees can identify with their business values, others, such as the writer Isabel Allende, struggle. Allende was fired from her translating job after she was caught altering dialogues and changing endings. Losing her job enabled Allende to choose a career that would be true to herself. Unemployment is a difficult situation for anyone. But, it doesnt have to be a curse. On the contrary, losing your job can open the door to new opportunities, such as starting a business or finding a career that suits your personality better. The 2-Hour Job Search: Using Technology to Get the Right Job Faster Price: $9.69 Buy Now from Amazon We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you. Last Updated: March 2, 2020 What's next? Ready to take action? Choose the right tools to help you build your career. Looking for related topics? Find out how to find the opportunities that help you grow your best career. Subscribe and make meaningful progress on your career. It’s about time you focused on your career. Get Educated Contact Us Advertise Copyright 2020 CareerAlley. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy + Disclosure home popular resources subscribe search

Be brilliant in the basics and other career advice from the Olympics -

Be brilliant in the basics and other career advice from the Olympics - I am not even going to pretend to be a hockey fan. It is not a sport that interests me in the least. In fact, when I saw a tweet about the game between the U.S. and Canada, I thought, Okay I can take a night off from watching the Olympics. However, I was interested to learn that Team USA defeated the Canadians in their showdown earlier today. This is how Yahoo! reported it: The Americans didnt believe in miracles. They just believed. And they pulled off the biggest Olympic hockey upset since the Miracle on Ice, stunning Canada 5-3 on Sunday to advance to the quarterfinals of an already mixed-up tournament. Brian Rafalski scored two goals, Ryan Miller held off a flurry of shots and the Americans quieted a raucous, pro-Canada crowd that came to cheer its dream team, only to see it upstaged by a bunch of unproven kids. One day short of the 30th anniversary of the countrys greatest hockey victorythe unfathomable win over the Soviet Union in Lake Placidthese underrated Americans were faster, more disciplined and more determined than Canadas collection of all-stars. With a historical (30-year old!) Dream Team on their minds, an exceptionally young team, wearing uniforms almost identical to that storied, gold-medal winning team, beat the Canadian gold-medal favorites. How did that happen? Yahoo! reports: U.S. team officials ringed the teams dressing room with motivational messages, like Be Brilliant in the Basics as a reminder that Olympic games are won with team play, good goaltending and attention to detail, not necessarily by the team with the biggest names. They got all the above. See your career message? Be brilliant in the basics. How great is that? You dont need to be the one with the biggest reputation, or have the most experience to land the job. You need to pay attention to the details, to work hard, and to go for your dream in a way that only someone who tastes the victory can do. You dont need to be the biggest to be the best. You need to work the hardest. That means preparing doing research, creating amazing materials (resume, letter, online profiles, etc.), interviewing with heart and passion AND being prepared to explain how and why you are the only one who can solve the organizations problems. If you have been looking for a job for an extended time, you may be getting discouraged. Dont let it happen to you. You can only imagine the downward spiral a negative attitude will have on your job search. Think like a winner. BELIEVE that you CAN do it, but also know that you need to MAKE IT HAPPEN. Just as the underrated Team USA was   faster, more disciplined and more determined than their opponents, as a job seeker, what can you do to get the advantage you need? The Americans didnt believe in miracles. They just believed. What do you believe? photo by crackerbunny

Professional Resume Writing in Dallas, Texas

Professional Resume Writing in Dallas, TexasProfessional resume writing in Dallas, Texas is similar to professional resume writing in Atlanta, Georgia. The two places are located next to each other on the Gulf Coast and thus share similar services that people need. These services include company directory, job listing, technical assistance, career services, event planner, employee referral and several others.The Dallas and Atlanta areas are situated on the Atlantic Ocean, which makes these areas a large area of open space and clean air. The climate is warm and not too hot or cold for summer and winter. Those working in this region have warm memories of vacations in Florida.In addition to this, the weather in these two cities in Texas is considered very good, because it is considered a climatic zone known for its mild weather, beautiful landscapes and beautiful weather. With such a backdrop, you can imagine how good a candidate's resume would look like, with lots of colorful images, i mpressive descriptions and a really unique resume outline. After all, you want to be remembered!Resume writing is extremely important because in this business, the prospect is as important as the person that you are hiring. Many times, a person doesn't even get a second glance until they apply for a job, so your resume is one of the few means of getting a job done. And if your resume looks great, then your chances of getting hired at this company increases dramatically.When it comes to hiring the ideal candidate, resume writing is also one of the most important aspects that needs to be considered. Most companies prefer candidates that have proper work experience, a college degree and a real job that can make a good impression on potential clients. You do not need to have all the qualities that are listed above, but you should have at least some of them.If you're struggling to write a resume for your future employer, then you should see a professional resume writer who can help you w ith some of the basic skills that need to be mastered. You can write an excellent resume by yourself, but if you don't know what to write, then you might be giving a bad impression to your employer.With the help of a professional resume writer, you can have a resume that is professional looking, professional sounding without any noticeable gaps. And as you will see from the services mentioned above, if you can make the job easier for your employer, then your chances of getting hired will rise.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Letter Gives Advices on Success

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Letter Gives Advices on Success Jeff Bezos wants you to know what it takes to be as successful as he is, and as dominant as Amazon. He also wants you to know that PowerPoint is lame â€" and that handstands are really hard. This week, the Amazon chief executive released his annual letters to shareholders, hyping the online retailer’s business results and musing about the secrets to Amazon’s success and some of its quirkier business practices. If you want to read the whole thing, you can find it here. But here are a few of the highlights. Success is all about high standards. How does Amazon “stay ahead of ever-rising customer expectation”? Bezos says there is no single answer but that having “high standards” â€" the italics are his â€" is a big part of it. Of course, that’s pretty intuitive. But he goes on to elaborate on what is and is not necessary. High standards are ‘teachable’ and ‘domain specific.’ If high standards are the key to success, as Bezos suggests, there is good news and bad news for the rest of us. The good news is that high standards are “teachable.” “High standards are contagious,” Bezos contends. “Bring a new person onto a high standards team and they will quickly adapt.” The bad news is that having high standards in one area of your life doesn’t mean you have them in others. He gives himself as an example: “When I started Amazon I had high standards on inventing, on customer care, and (thankfully) on hiring. But I didn’t have high standards on operational process: how to keep fixed problems fixed,” for example. High standards require ‘recognition and scope.’ How do you achieve high standards in a particular domain? “First, you have to be able to recognize what good looks like in that domain,” he writes; “second you must have realistic expectations for how hard it should be (how much work it will take) to achieve that result â€" the scope.” (Again, the emphasis is Bezos’s.) And that brings us to handstands. So what exactly do handstands have to do with all of this? What often gets in the way of having impeccably high standards, Bezos says, is that a lot of stuff is hard. And when people set goals for themselves (or for others, as Bezos does in his role as CEO), they don’t always recognize just how hard a challenge might be â€" and how much work it will take to meet it. This lesson was driven home for Bezos when one his friends hired a handstand coach to improve her Instagram game. (Apparently this a real thing that rich people do.) In the very first lesson, the coach gave her some wonderful advice. “Most people,” he said. “think that if they work hard, they should be able to master a handstand in about two weeks. The reality is that it takes about six months of daily practice. If you think you should be able to do it in two weeks, you’re just going to end up quitting. Writing is like doing handstands â€" that is, it’s really hard. Writing in a way that smartly and succinctly communicates your ideas to others is also really difficult. That’s a problem at Amazon, according to Bezos, because “we don’t do PowerPoint (or any other slide-oriented) presentations.” Instead, employees communicate through “narratively structured six-page memos.” Unfortunately, he seems to suggest, a lot of people seem to think they can just toss off a six-page memo in a day or so, or even in a few hours. And the result is something mediocre. Instead, Bezos thinks memos are much better when people spend weeks working on them. And he believes we would probably do a lot of things better if we approached them with a clearer idea of how much effort they took. Often, when a memo isn’t great, it’s not the writer’s inability to recognize the high standard, but instead a wrong expectation on scope: they mistakenly believe a high-standards, six-page memo can be written in one or two days or even a few hours, when really it might take a week or more!…The great memos are written and re-written, shared with colleagues who are asked to improve the work, set aside for a couple of days, and then edited again with a fresh mind. They simply can’t be done in a day or two. They key point here is that you can improve results through the simple act of teaching scope â€" that a great memo probably should take a week or more. What you don’t necessarily need for success is skill. Bezos ends his prologue â€" before he gets into the details of Amazon’s performance â€" on a reassuring note. What you don’t necessarily need is skill, especially if you are part of a team. “The football coach doesn’t need to be able to throw, and a film director doesn’t need to be able to act,” he says. “But they both do need to recognize high standards for those things and teach realistic expectations on scope.”

6 Steps for a Successful Job Search - Work It Daily

6 Steps for a Successful Job Search - Work It Daily Recently, we were in the position of looking to fill a role at our company and needed to find top notch candidate. After a rather frustrating search, we suddenly were connected with a candidate who was everything we were looking for. We were quite fortunate to find a great fit, but I was surprised to find that, when she told me about her job search, she really did all of the steps we talk about. I have asked her to write a bit about her process to help others see that the process works. The rest are her words. As a young professional, the whole world seemed to be an opportunity for me. But I realized very quickly that in order to find opportunity, you must stand out from the pack. After trying the conventional routes of job searches I gained nothing but frustration. I quickly realized that a job search is a job in itself and must be approached as such. So, I developed a business plan and began to market myself as a brand. I did this by implementing several steps. 1. Know what you want. You have to know what you are looking for and be specific in your definition of what you are looking for in a job. Employers look for candidates who know what they want from a career and for those who take the ambiguity out of themselves. You must find your niche and define it well. 2. Create a great resume. A professional resume and cover letter that clearly define your strengths and state your goals is crucial. A clear format is a must. Your cover letter and resume are your chance to sell yourself and your first step in branding your product, you. 3. Market yourself through networking. Remember, you are advertising a product and want as much exposure in the market as you can possibly achieve. LinkedIn is a great site for connecting to your target group. But you must be selective; your Facebook friends are not your target market. You want to surround yourself and create your professional presence based on professionals with similar interests and impressive goals and achievements. Also, look at every new meeting as an opportunity. Do not be afraid to ask for advice; you never know who may become a lead or reference. Have people work for you, ask people to forward your resume, and listen for job opportunities that match your niche. 4. Don’t forget the personal touch. A simple “thank you” allows you to stand out from other job seekers. Don’t just thank someone after an interview; a simple email thanking someone for becoming a new connection is the perfect opportunity to introduce yourself. Always attach your cover letter and resume. If the connection is not a possible employer, take the opportunity to ask for advice and, again, attach your resume. It is a representation of the product and the more people who see it, the better. 5. Remember that you have a business now. In order to market the brand you must treat it as a business. You should spend 20-40 hours per week on networking, applications, and interviews in order to achieve your goal; employment in a position that allows growth and opportunity. 6. Be patient. This is not an easy process. It is also very emotional and you can expect highs and lows. But as long as you stick with your business plan, you will achieve your goal. So what are you doing about your job search? Are you treating it as a business? Are you committing the time it requires? I would love to hear your comments on the steps laid out above. Successful job search image from Bigstock Have you joined our career growth club?Join Us Today!