Career Services Professionals - 52 Strategies for 52 Weeks of Career Business Bliss in 2010

Guest post by Laura DeCarlo, President & Executive Director, Career Directors International

-I am pleased to post one of many valuable strategies coming from Laura at CDI. I joined CDI a few years back to augment my skills in internet recruiting and career coaching. What I found was an organization of the most talented, professional, and caring group of people I’ve ever come across in industry affiliations. Everyone is ready and willing to share their expertise. Laura prepared the following article to help career service providers prepare for the New Year and demonstrate CDI offerings. Take a look and see if these tips can help in your planning. More information about CDI at the end of the article.

Article
During the next few weeks, you might find yourself with a little bit of time on your hands, waiting for the next client or dollars to start rolling in. Here are a few ways to get your business in shape for the New Year:

1. Learn about Outplacement Opportunities by finding out which companies are downsizing: (a) Sign up for free AIRS outplacement newsletter for advance notice of companies planning to downsize. (b) Courtesy of Sharyn Hancock of Workforce Alliance, Inc.: "You can find companies that are going to be laying off by looking at Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notifications for each state. Each State has their own list, for example, I am in Florida, so here is the list from my State. You can see that the notification was posted, but the actual lay off will occur in the future."    
2. Set up the client e-newsletter you have been meaning to create to get in touch and stay on the radar with your clients. A few favorite resources for low-cost e-newsletters include www.aweber.com, www.1shoppingcart.com, and www.constantcontact.com. CDI members only area also has a free MS Word newsletter content template.
3. Create simple messages now for your upcoming newsletters (consider one tip each) and schedule them 1-4 a month now.
4. On Twitter? Sign up for www.socialoomph.com (formerly www.tweetlater.com) and schedule a series of daily educational Tweets in advance to carry your message and grow your following.
5. Motivate job seekers to sign up for your e-newsletter by creating a free tip sheet, report, or short e-book they will receive by signing up. Add a sign up box to your website (tools like www.constantcontact.com offer such a widget).
6. Offer clients a 10% discount for resume or coaching updates in January in your e-newsletter - this is a great way to get traffic flowing in January.
7. Earn a new credential to enhance your skill set, services, earning power, and value to clients - (www.careerdirectors.com/cert.htm).
8. Write a news release to announce a new credential, award, or to simply educate job seekers. Use free submission tools like www.przoom.com and check out www.ezinearticles.com for articles.
9. Research your local newspaper's business and life section writers and introduce yourself with a press kits (keep it simple with an introductory letter on the topics you can quote on, biography, and, if you have them, samples of your articles or quotations).
10. Create a page for the press on your website to make your site media-friendly (check out CDI's Press Room at www.careerdirectors.com/press.htm).
11. Spice up your outgoing voice message with a call to action that makes prospects more eager to leave a message.  
12. Sign up for Job Fairs and other opportunities for 2010 (www.careerdirectors.com/fairs.htm).
13. Write some new articles for your website and for some of CDI's partners (http://careerdirectors.com/partner2.htm).
14. Post your articles on Business Week's Business Exchange on resume writing (hosted by CDI).
15. Start assigning key words to the properties of your resume so you can easily search through them for key words and templates to help streamline future projects. Also, take time now to sift through your resumes and find 'best examples' for categories you most often write so you can refer back to them as needed.

16. Create your best learning opportunity for CDI's 2010 Summit by making a session suggestion.
17. Get ready to win an award - CDI's Toast of the Resume Industry and Career Innovator Awards both open in January.
18. Enhance your Web identify, get your ebook for sale online, and bring visitors and prospects back to your website with the free strategies in CDI's Web Power! Web Profit! Playbook.
19. Contact local professional associations to get on the schedule for presentations to their groups in 2010. Your local Chamber of Commerce can usually direct you.
20. Make sure you have the best rates available through your credit card provider. Most services allow a rate review and adjustment as much as four times a year.
21. Raise your prices! It doesn't have to be a lot - do what feels comfortable, but do it!
22. Review your contracts and make sure they are up to date. Check out some of the contracts in CDI's Member's only section and go to Business < Business Forms.
23. Get important business functions on your calendar now for the New Year! You can write a book (I did) in just 30 minutes a day if you will just plan for it. Need motivation? Read I Could Do Anything if I Only Knew What it Was by Barbara Sher.
24. Organize for your accountant or tax software so you are not scrambling in April.
25. Make it rain ($$$) by following up with all the prospects who had to 'think about it' when you consulted. Reaching out months later can frequently be when the time is right and they realize they really need you.
26. Shift from selling the service that is asked for to selling solutions with packages. You will find the article I wrote on how to do this in the CDI Member's only section under Business < Marketing & Sales < Articles < A Three-Step Process to a 97%+ Close Rate and a 6-Figure Income.
27. Build your business network and your skills by getting involved as a CDI Mentor or Committee Volunteer.
28. Start saving now to attend the 2010 CDI Summit in October. Check out what attendees are saying this will do for you on the testimonial page.
29. Buy a headset (if you don't already have one) to make client consultations and coaching a breeze. Thanks to member Mary Elizabeth Bradford's suggestion, I LOVE The Boom (www.theboom.com). I can stand in high intensity wind or have a vacuum cleaner running one foot from me and my client cannot hear it - no sound disturbance at all! Amazing!
30. Move existing clients who are still job searching back into your services with a free tip teleclass where you provide advice and then recommend your group or individual coaching programs. Favorite free teleclass tool - www.freeconferencecall.com and favorite free webinar tool - www.vyew.com.
31. Evaluate gaps in your services and create partnerships with CDI colleagues for affiliate relationships and service agreements. You can search for members at CDI's Find a Career Pro link. 
32. Spend an afternoon in the CDI Member's Only section; if you have not figured it out from the suggestions above, there are hundreds upon hundreds of resources available, including over 30 hours of free audio on demand teleclasses.
33. Submit a proposal to speak on an area of expertise at an upcoming career conference (such as CDI's 2010 Summit).
34. Turbo-charge your existing or new business with CDI's Entrepreneurial Wisdom program - 15 sessions, 22 hours, 13 team presenters, and 194 pages of goodies!
35. Gain different perspectives on your most pressing challenges with the CDI Elists (CDI Resume, CDI Career, and CDI Chat).
36. Create a career support group or fan page on www.Facebook.com or a client social network for your business on www.ning.com.
37. Link with like service websites to enhance your web (Google) ranking.
38. See who is talking about your business by setting up Google Alerts (www.google.com/alerts).
39. Enhance your LinkedIn presence - link with clients and colleagues, join the CDI Group, and start sharing news.
40. Make yourself searchable by job seekers on the CDI website - login and personalize your profile with a bio and searchable categories (under My Profile in left-hand page navigation).
41. Find services, programs, and products to enhance your career services with CDI's Service Providers.
42. Share your expertise with your colleagues - write an article for CDI's newsletter. You can contact us for more information at info@careerdirectors.com.
43. Keep carpal tunnel at a distance - adjust your chair height and get a natural keyboard and rollerball mouse. Dragon Naturally Speaking Software is also excellent if you do extensive typing. I have Dragon Standard, the lowest-cost version, and find that once I click the cursor I can dictate in any program and even format by voice. Plus, it will open Word and surf the Internet, hands-free. Get the software new on Amazon or Ebay at a low price.
44. Make sure your business card is a selling tool; if it's not, create a new one with one of the full-color, low-cost templates at www.vistaprint.com. Need a designer? You can get an entire branding package done at an extremely low cost through www.guru.com.
45. Contact your phone service provider to ensure you still have the best price and package for your needs.
46. Set up a retirement savings/investment plan such as a SEP or SIMPLE.
47. Shelter your business by converting a sole proprietorship into a Limited Liability Company (LLC). You can usually do this very simply and inexpensively through your own state. Google 'State of _____ incorporation'.
48. Visualize your pitch going perfectly - the mind cannot differentiate from real and imagined - spend 15 minutes twice a day seeing yourself, detail-by-detail, gaining the reviewer's trust and closing the sale at your deserved rate. Need advice? Check out the book The One-Minute Sales Person by Spencer Johnson.
49. Read the best how-to coaching book - Co-Active Coaching by Laura Whitworth.
50. Catch up on Trends You and Your Clients need to know by reviewing CDI's Career Expert Trends.
51. Share your expertise - put your PowerPoint on www.slideshare.net. Then, you can also add it via www.linkedin.com and www.facebook.com as well as put it on your website.
52. Write down the goals you want to achieve in 2010 and don't stop, step-by-step, until you reach them!

 

About Laura
Laura DeCarlo offers 16 years of expertise in resume writing, career coaching and career management as Executive Director of A Competitive Edge Career Service, LLC and President of Career Directors International, an innovative association of career professionals. 

She holds nine industry certifications from Certified Expert Resume Writer to Master Career Director along with a dual BA in Creative / Technical Writing and extensive HR, Training and Counseling graduate studies.

She is resume writing expert for 54 professional associations such as PMI, AMA, AJST, ASAE, ASME and ASCE. She is the author of the highly acclaimed Interviewing: The Gold Standard program and co-author of Job Search Bloopers; she has also been published in 15+ resume / cover letter compendiums. She has won seven prestigious resume writing and job placement awards, and has pioneered numerous industry education, outreach and recognition programs such as the Certified Employment Interview Consultant and Certified Web Portfolio Practitioner programs.

Other accomplishments include nationwide transition programs for organizations such as the US Treasury, national conference speaking engagements, former 2-year employment guest columnist for The Florida Today newspaper and Director of Placement for Herzing College. She has been quoted in publications such as Forbes (IMPRESS), Working Mother and the Wall Street Journal, and appeared on NBC 7/39 News in San Diego and Wall Street Journal Radio.

Web site: www.acompetitiveedge.com

Email: laura@careerdirectors.com

About CDI
CDI was originally founded in 2000 as the Professional Resume Writing and Research Association (PRWRA) to provide a venue for global career professionals to access educational, networking and personal / professional development opportunities in the careers industry.

Since its inception, the association has continued to grow from a resume association to that of an innovative and comprehensive, multi-discipline career association that has embraced all types of career professionals from around the world.

In 2005 the decision was made by the association's leadership to adopt the new name of Career Directors International (CDI) in order to provide an accurate portrayal of the depth and breadth of the association's membership and benefits. As of January 2006, the association has been known as CDI.

Driving the success behind CDI is the vision, energy and efforts of current President, Laura DeCarlo, the Advisory Board of Sr. Directors, Committee Directors, and numerous committee and focus group volunteers. The Advisory Board of Sr. Directors and Committee Directors guide CDI members and programs by providing complementary expertise in career services, employment, business, and marketing/PR. Founding leadership of the original PRWRA was under President, Laurie Roy, and CEO, Todd Holthaus.