As you probably know about me, I don't participate in a lot of affiliate offers. I tend to be a bit suspicious when everyone starts promoting something.
However, when I find a product that I think is extremely useful, or has great potential, I think it's irresponsible if I don't share that with my friends and clients.
Since I think of myself as a resource person, I'm always on the lookout for opportunities that fit the needs of my lists.
This post is about just such a product: Let's Get Social
If you are interested in or knowledgeable about social networking, or want a simple way to make money using social media, then read on…
Businesses across America need you and what you know… and they are willing to pay you big money – especially if you are in the right place at the right time.
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That means that Social Media Managers are in HUGE demand right now. And, you don't need a product or a website to make a difference for businesses and create an income that supports you.
Marketer Ryan Deiss recently teamed up with a social media manager in Austin named Katie Buck. Kate is making a steady $10K a month right now PART-TIME. Kate is also the Social Media Manager for Carrie Wilkerson, the "Barefoot Executive", a leading work from home business owner and coach.
I have the product. I've gone through the videos and all the resources. There is a TON of great information there. Even if you only wanted to understand more so you could set up your own social marketing more efficiently, the price tag ($97) is well worth the investment – and it comes with a 30 day guarantee.
That's plenty of time to put things in place and try out the system. In fact, you could even go through everything in several hours and get yourself set up to start making money.
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As I said, I have gone through this product and I'm impressed with what they offer for the price. I've learned some new things myself, which I will put to work immediately.
If you decide to buy this product through my affiliate link (above), I will
receive a commission.
People often tell me they were on LinkedIn, or went to a networking group, or met someone when they were out-and-about and got a name of a potential contact for their job search, but don’t know how to reach them.
“What good is the name without their phone number or email address? It doesn’t do me much good if I can’t connect with them!”
It’s great if you are given a phone number and/or email address with a name, however, with a little creativity and initiative you can certainly find other ways to get in touch. Here are some ideas and techniques to make those connections:
~ Call the main number! Often people forget the simplest and most obvious solution to getting in touch with a new contact… call the company and ask for them! It’s ideal to have a direct-line phone number to the person you’re trying to reach. However, if you don’t, it’s generally pretty easy to find the main company phone number (either from their website online, a phone book, or calling 411), call and ask for the person by name. Generally a phone receptionist won’t put you through to anyone if you ask a general question like “May I speak to the Accounting Manager, please?” However, if you ask for someone by name, they will always put you through. Even if the person works at another company facility than the one you are calling, they generally have the overall company directory and can put you directly through to that person. Call and ask for them by name.
Additionally, if you call after business hours, many companies have an automated answering system with a company directory that will often tell you the extension of the person you are trying to connect to. That’s often a great way to gain the direct-line number of someone.
~ Google! As with so many things… Google is a tremendous resource to find contact information. More than half of the time I'm trying to find contact information, I’m able to do it by searching their name and company name through Google. If, for example, I’m trying to find John Mansky at XYZ Company… I simply search: "John Mansky” “XYZ Company”
I make sure to put his name in quotes to avoid unwanted results like John Smith and Bill Mansky
Scanning down the list of results, I often find some document or site that has their phone number and/or email address. If there are too many results, I may try to narrow the search by trying his name with their web domain. For example: “John Mansky” “xyzco.com”
Their email address is likely to include their web domain, so if the address is “john.mansky@xyzco.com” the search is likely to find it.
If that doesn’t work, I may do a search to find ANY email address at that company to discover what their standard email format is. For example, I may simply search:
email “xyzco.com”
If someone else’s email address pops up that is in a format of 'firstname.lastname@xyzco.com’, for example, I know it’s a very high likelihood that my contact’s address is in the same format. If it’s wrong, their email server will simply bounce the email back to me and no one is the wiser. If it does bounce back, I simply try other common formats like:
firstinitiallastname@xyzco.com
firstname_lastname@xyzco.com
firstinitial_lastname@xyzco.com
…or other combinations.
~ Check emails4corporations! Another great resource to help you find the standard email format for the company where your contact is employed is emails4corporations. Someone has compiled a tremendous list of standard email formats for companies all over the country.
Enter the company name in the search box at the top right corner of the homepage and it will show you the company, email format, address, and phone number. It doesn’t cover every company, however, is a great help if yours is included.
~ Try JigSaw.com! JigSaw.com is probably the worlds largest ‘Rolodex’. It includes the business card information of millions of people. It rarely lets me down and is the last resort resource for me when trying to find someone’s contact information. You can either use it by paying for the service, or for free on a give & take point system. So it take a little money or some effort on your part. However, for me as a recruiter, or you as a job seeker, I believe it’s a very worthwhile resource when you need contact information you can’t seem to find anywhere else.
~ Paid Services. Certainly there are a number of additional paid services (Spoke, ZoomInfo, and others) available online that can provide the information for you as well, however, I’m generally a big fan of “FREE”. It’s pretty rare that I can’t find someone’s contact information through one of the means listed above. Try those and then depending on how badly you need it, a paid service may be worth it.
Generally, I don’t recommend contacting someone directly through LinkedIn’s system. Many people receive a lot of communications through there and have become conditioned to treat them like Spam. It’s generally best to reach them by phone, a professional voicemail, or email first. However, if none of those works, as a last resort, you have nothing to lose by trying the LinkedIn contact system as well.
Be creative, take the initiative, and find the way to connect with those job search contacts!
Author:
Harry Urschel has over 20 years experience as a technology recruiter in Minnesota. He currently operates as e-Executives, writes a blog for Job Seekers called The Wise Job Search, and can be found on Twitter as @eExecutives.
I wonder if I was born an entrepreneur. Maybe I just learned, at an early age, that it was more fun to have money than not to have money.
My earliest recollection of my ability to earn money was at age 6, when I sold flowers which I took out of the nearby Lutheran Church garbage bin.
Faithfully on Mondays, the church secretary would put the flowers in the bin; and faithfully after school (first grade), I would take the flowers out, tear out the bad spots and sell them. I would go along the neighborhood streets, door-to-door, peddling my flowers minus the bad spots. I was successful at it. People would give me coins for my little bunches of flowers tied by a red string and when I would get to my last bouquet, I’d knock on the door of the home where the Catholic nuns lived. A very warm and loving sister would give me a small picture of Jesus, in lieu of coins, for my flowers. I did this every Monday like clockwork.
Later on, after selling all of my flowers I took my accumulated pictures of Jesus and gave them to some to the old folks at the nursing home next door to the church.
Somehow, at an early age, I had an “eye” for what could be special to someone else for which I could be paid. I must also have been undaunted, creative, imaginative and have had a measure of freedom from my parents. I am certain, though, that I tremendously enjoyed this. I made special friends.
Whenever the carnival would come to town, I’d go to the “penny pitch” and return home with enough ash trays, glasses, bowls and plates to set up shop. With my card table placed in front of the house, right alongside the sidewalk, I’d sell my wares for ten cents each. I made a profit and I always sold out!
Then I really got into business with my lemonade stand, which I would faithfully set up every Saturday morning and keep it up until 2p.m. At age 6, I was selling lemonade at five cents a glass. I remember making my table beautiful with a tablecloth (I also ironed at a young age) with the finishing touch of red and orange geraniums in a green Coke bottle.
Kids came, so did heir mothers. Even the scary old woman who lived in the proverbial darkened mysterious house down the street sent a note, via the passing mailman, that she wanted me to bring her a cup of lemonade. So I did and for my efforts she gave me twice the amount – 10 cents. That was an interesting lesson: I learned about going that “extra mile”.
I then expanded to include red Kool-Aid for 3 cents a glass because it was cheaper to make and I cheated a little on the sugar. The old woman gave me a 20 pound bag of sugar she no longer used and people liked my Kool-Aid. Later when lemons got costly, I added different flavors of Kool-Aid, even putting some dry Kool-Aid powder in small envelopes for 2 cents. Kids could buy it, pour it out onto their hands and lick the dry and sour powder. As summer came on I included frozen Kool-Aid ice cubes for one penny each. By then I was 8 years of age.
Some days were filled with many trips to the house to get more cold ice water of Kool-Aid ice cubes; other days I went to and from the house because I drank more than I sold! I stayed with this venture for three summers and most Saturdays during school.
I must confess, though, that my Mom put a halt to my entrepreneurial spirit when I charged 5 cents for neighbor kids to wiggle the stiff body of my dead cat Rusty who was on the porch in a box waiting to be picked up by the Humane society!
As I look back, I was in Lemonade Stand Training School, for I learned some lessons that are with me still. I learned:
I, independently, could make something happen.
I had earning power.
To use and sell products that I loved.
I could sell things for money or by trading.
How to negotiate (negotiate means that both partied are satisfied with the deal).
How to be generous. (I would give someone a whole glass of lemonade so they could taste it. Most people would, in turn, buy more. I also gave many free glasses to my buddies.)
To be consistent.
To have completed transactions.
The idea that I learned from my friend Leonard Orr-to have many sources of income-is a smart one and can liberate you from the dependency created by one source of income and the tremendous fear of having it taken away. It can be easy when you relax your mind, become inventive, move from the idea of “selling” to “offering” and let go of attachment to “making the deal”. You can be employed full-time and get involved with products or trade and “do it on the side”.
YOU CAN SELL IDEAS. HSU and CR (local colleges) sell ideas. If you have ever paid tuition, you have purchased ideas. You can sell ideas by giving a class, workshop, a seminar. You can be a consultant if you have something to advise or teach.
YOU CAN SELL PRODUCTS OR SERVICES. There are Avon ladies and Mary Kay consultants; vendors at the Farmer’s Market and North Country Faire; there are sidewalk sales and yard sales and garage sales; there are parties to show beautiful and unusual baskets, Tupperware and intimate apparel; there are Sunrider and Blue Green Algae to take for inner health and cleansing; there’s Toby across from Arcata City Hall selling flowers; and Don in the Arcata Plaza selling hot dogs and sausages.
He is a great entrepreneur. He expanded his business as he saw what people wanted: coffee, tea, hot chocolate and tofu hot dogs. He will even give you a shoe shine! There is no end to what can be available for you. Just select a service or product for which someone will be willing to pay you.
The workplace in 21st century will be a different configuration than we’ve known in the past. Our mentality of largeness seems to be turning around to more simple form. Did you know that home-based business comprises more than 50% of all new businesses in the U.S. and 75% of the new businesses in Canada? The rise in mail-order catalogues and multilevel marketing of products is testimony that people want to buy either at home or in a more personal manner.
The workplace in 21st century is also going to be one of the multi-careers and simultaneous careers. If you are able to change with the changes this can be an exciting time in making money to take care of your needs. Leonard Orr says that: we should stay with a career or product for at least 5 years or until we have become successful with that career or product so that we create patterns of success rather than failure.
So, I’ve created what I will call the “Lemonade Stand Theory” as a way to expand your income. If you think about it you have probably done it. For fun, jot down all of the jobs that you have ever had- all of the things you have ever sold. Then write down all of the things you have done without pay but that you could be paid for. You may be reminded of your capabilities and experience.
Naturally, you must have the “glue” that holds it all together. I think that is made up of personal energy, inspiration, self-esteem and the willingness to show up or have you or your product out where people will know about it, where they live or shop or hang out. Display it or have it available, or you be available and don’t take yourself too seriously.
Susan Yashoda Deschenes teaches classes in clientele building and in relaxation. She lives in Arcata and drinks lemonade to this day.
As I listened to several conversations over the past couple of weeks, I began to notice how much the language being used was actually helping to maintain the level of frustration I heard. That got me thinking about cause and effect.
The language we use with ourselves is immensely influential. Just take a few minutes to listen to the kinds of things you are currently saying to yourself, especially during times of stress.
For instance, if you are feeling overwhelmed by all the things that have somehow been added to your schedule, how many of these might you be saying or feeling:
"Oh, I'll never get this done in time!" (and it's making me feel even more pressure/guilt, etc.)
"I don't know where to start" (and I feel like I'm just chasing my tail.)
"There's too much to do" (and all I can see is that overwhelmingly large picture.)
"It just isn't fair!" (and why did it have to happen to me?)
Obviously, we each have our own way of dealing, or not dealing, with what happens in our life. Especially if we're facing change.
When we feel any unwanted emotion, the most important thing we can do, and the first step to recovering our balance, is to manage our own state of being. If we're stuck in the negative feelings, it's more difficult to have access to all of our own best resources.
The way we "frame" our thinking directly affects the answers and responses we are going to get. In managing our lives, which often means dealing with the circumstances, we can either be at the effect of what happens to us, or we can be in control of how we respond or react.
When we take on a "victim" or helpless attitude, we limit ourselves to thinking that assumes we have no choices, that we are limited by what is granted to us or what is allowed by someone outside ourselves.
When we shift our internal voices slightly and assume responsibility for our experience, we open up many more possibilities for acquiring or achieving what we really want.
All of us have resorted to disempowering questions at some time in our lives – "Why does this always happen to me?" or "Why did I do this again?"
These kinds of questions keep us stuck – our internal computers (brains) are busy creating the justifications for our current situations rather than looking for ways to improve, expand, or get the more beneficial results we really want.
By shifting our language, even slightly, we will often dramatically shift the focus for our problem-solving computer/brains, getting much more useful results.
Think about how different your responses will be to those previous thoughts when you make any of the following shifts:
"What can I do right now to help insure this gets done in time?"
"What small step can I take to move this forward right now?"
"What are the key elements that must be done?"
In these examples, notice that we shifted our focus from being at the effect of external causes to being in control by taking responsibility for what we are experiencing. That simple shift of language gives us a sense of power over our circumstances rather than the helplessness we felt before. We can use the same kind of thinking to ensure we ask ourselves empowering (instead of disempowering) questions. First of all, by allowing ourselves to become more fascinated (rather than frustrated) by what we are experiencing, and then by shifting our perspective to one of internal control or one of possibilities.
So, our questions (from above) could become, "How can I make sure this doesn't happen to me again?" and "What could I do to respond more resourcefully next time?"
Again, notice how this simple shift opens up many more options and possibilities, how many more choices we have, and how much more personal control we have. Same circumstances, different framework.
Christine Lavin has a great song in which she says "He's not a victim, he's a volunteer". Unfortunately that describes too many of us who have become used to believing that the circumstances in our lives control our experience of the world rather than remembering that we're the ones who create the context. And that ultimately we do have the power to control our own responses, including how and where we look for answers.
We can choose to get small and limit our experience and results by cutting off our enjoyment and our possibilities, or we can open up to the possibilities of being and having more by becoming responsible for how we manage our thoughts, feelings and responses. We have the choice every moment, and we are only limited by the framework we have constructed for ourselves.
