Get a Hot Job by Writing a Professional Summary for Your Resume

In today’s competitive job market, employers rely on well-written resumes to screen potential candidates. In many instances, employers look through job search web sites, such as Job Seeker’s Club, to find professionals with skills, education and experience that fit their needs. These employment search web sites, along with many companies’ own online applications, require candidates to upload their resume in order to express interest in a specific opportunity. Without an opportunity to send a personal email, or a cover letter, you have to make sure that your resume expresses your personality in addition to listing your professional and educational experiences and achievements. To do so, you can include a professional profile or summary at the beginning of your resume that allows you to market yourself through a narrative. This section allows your potential employers to learn something unique about you and your career, as well as get a good feel of your communication skills.

To write an effective summary, you should first understand what information should not be communicated in your resume. While a summary provides an insight into what is unique and competitive about you, it is not a place for you to indicate any personal information that does not relate to your career. Information such as ethnicity, marital status, sexual orientation, religious beliefs and affiliations, etc. should be left out of your resume. While descriptive of who you are, this information is not relevant to your potential employer in order to pre-screen your qualifications for their opportunity. Additionally, the summary should not contain your previous professional experience, unless you can clearly demonstrate how such background can be of value in your future career development. Beware of generic statements, such as “I am well organized and detail oriented.” Employers want to hear your unique voice and get a sense of your communication skills while reading the summary portion of your resume. Using generalizations about your abilities will make the employers believe that you are either a poor communicator or are using such statements to fill up space on your resume.

Your summary should be in form of a short paragraph or bulleted statements, containing only several sentences. There isn’t a sentence limit, but as a rule do not take up more than one quarter of the page. Your summary should begin by a headline that summarizes your professional title and/or your professional statement. Emphasize your title by featuring the headline in bold and larger font, as it allows your potential employer to grasp who you are quickly. For example:

Financial Planning Professional

Achieved Double-Digit Return for All Clients through Well-Balanced Financial Portfolios

It is important that this title is well crafted, as it is the first impression your potential employer will have of you.

There are three things a well-written summary should address:

- Your experiences and skills as they relate to your idea job

- What you can bring to the organization and the open position that no other candidate can

- Your professional goals.

Even though your resume summary is written by you, it should be composed in third person, in present tense. Think of it as a summary of what one of your best colleagues would say about your professional achievements. Reinforce your title, and sell only the experiences and skills that meet your career objective. If you have multiple career objectives, such as you wish to get a position in either marketing or public relations, develop separate resume summaries for each of the objectives. A summary can also contain a brief bulleted section highlighting only a few vital competitive skills that you bring to the table. An example of an effective summary would be as follows:

Successful financial planning professional with over 15 years of personal and retirement planning experience. Managed a small financial planning firm, achieving double-digit financial returns for all clients by developing personalized investment portfolios. Leader in development and professional growth of four other financial planners in the firm through effective and motivating mentoring strategies.

Key competencies include:

o Personalized portfolio development

o Financial forecasting

o Retirement portfolio management

o Development on-going professional growth strategies

Much like your overall resume, your summary should be well-written and error-free. Make sure to review your summary, and customize as necessary for the various opportunities of interest. An effective summary will help you “hook” your employer; it should sell you as a primary candidate for the job, leaving your employer with a great first impression of you.

Starting a Home Business with Your Expert Knowledge

You can start your very own home business by writing about what you know. Sounds simple enough, right? You can even build residual, passive income by setting up a membership site with your expert knowledge. Don’t know what to write about or set up a membership site about? Believe me, you know a lot more than you think you do.

Everyone knows a little about something that someone else knows nothing about. Each and every one of us has experienced the good and bad in life, and can help others with this kind of information. And once that experience is packaged as an "information product", it's knowing who to send it to, that is interested enough to buy it. Or you can set up a membership site about it, and give a little bit at a time.

Perhaps you have a deep passion about something...well chances are there are many people who share the same passion. So why not share it in a membership site?

It truly boils down to our life's experiences. If you've experienced something very difficult in life, and have lived through it, overcome it, and was victorious over it, you have information to share that people will pay for...because more than likely, someone else is experiencing that same pain and wants desperately to know how you made it through.

Maybe you've worked at the same job for twenty years and know everything about the industry. Maybe you beat cancer, smoking or obesity, and have an amazing story to tell that can help others going through the same adversities. What you have to share is knowledge, and knowledge is power. Power to fight, power to overcome, power to win. And this is what people will pay for. This is what people want to buy.

They need your information. And your information will lead you to money...Lots of money. People will line your pockets with cash every month if you have the information they are desperately searching for. And that's why membership sites are the best online home businesses to create.

And you don't even have to create your own membership site...you can promote someone else's membership site. Or, you can buy one at BuildMeThis.com. Bottom line...people are hungry for information. They have a need to know...they want your knowledge. There is no limit to the topic or category of information that people are seeking.

That is how the search engines came to being. People are searching for every topic under the sun. The Internet has been deemed the "information super highway", because that is where people start for information. Catch the concept, and you're on your way to BIG profits with membership sites.

Do You Have Enough Money for Retirement?

Retirement may be a long way off for you – or it might be right around the corner. No matter how near or far it is, you’ve absolutely got to start saving for it now. However, saving for retirement isn’t what it used to be with the increase in cost of living and the instability of social security. You have to invest for your retirement, as opposed to saving for it!

Let’s start by taking a look at the retirement plan offered by your company. Once upon a time, these plans were quite sound. However, after the Enron upset and all that followed, people aren’t as secure in their company retirement plans anymore. If you choose not to invest in your company’s retirement plan, you do have other options.

First, you can invest in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, certificates of deposit, and money market accounts. You do not have to state to anybody that the returns on these investments are to be used for retirement. Just simply let your money grow overtime, and when certain investments reach their maturity, reinvest them and continue to let your money grow.

You can also open an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). IRA’s are quite popular because the money is not taxed until you withdraw the funds. You may also be able to deduct your IRA contributions from the taxes that you owe. An IRA can be opened at most banks. A ROTH IRA is a newer type of retirement account. With a Roth, you pay taxes on the money that you are investing in your account, but when you cash out, no federal taxes are owed. Roth IRA’s can also be opened at a financial institution.

Another popular type of retirement account is the 401(k). 401(k’s) are typically offered through employers, but you may be able to open a 401(k) on your own. You should speak with a financial planner or accountant to help you with this. The Keogh plan is another type of IRA that is suitable for self employed people. Self-employed small business owners may also be interested in Simplified Employee Pension Plans (SEP). This is another type of Keogh plan that people typically find easier to administer than a regular Keogh plan.

Whichever retirement investment you choose, just make sure you choose one! Again, do not depend on social security, company retirement plans, or even an inheritance that may or may not come through! Take care of your financial future by investing in it today.

Free and Super Simple List Building Techniques

You are losing money if you do not have an email list! Why? Because whatever you are promoting, if you do not have a list of people who trust you and have allowed you to email them, you have lost an opportunity to market to people who want to buy from you. There is actually a reason why people say, "There's money in the list!" So, how do you build a list with no money and no experience?

Most people try using search engine optimization techniques, which has become so specialized and quite frankly time consuming that most people can't approach page one of listings in spite of months of hard work. Pay Per Click is too expensive, as prices for some keywords approaching or surpassing the $50 per click range. It is certainly not uncommon for a $1 per click.

These list building techniques certainly do work if you have the deep pockets to stay with it in the long term. However, if you have shallow pockets, or you do not want to spend much money on advertising, because you are just starting out, there are several ways of gaining a competitive edge that will cost you nothing.

Take Craig's List for example. They now get over 12 Billion hits per month placing them in the mid single digits of most viewed websites in the world. The cost of advertising on Craig's List - $0.

Yahoo Answers is another great place for quality vs. quantity when it comes to time spent. You have an opportunity there to know in advance if the prospect is even interested in your product or service. The competition is generally low or poor quality. If you have just average marketing skills you can do very well building your list in this Free Marketing venue.

Another great place to market for prospects is at Yahoo Groups. This free marketing opportunity lets you search for groups to join and market to by a keyword search. This virtually guarantees that your promotions will be seen by likely prospects.

That's not all! Forums are usually theme specific and open to all as free members. Not only can you post your business opportunity but you can place an ad in your signature for exposure in your comments. You have a golden opportunity to engage in a direct conversation with a prospect.

5 Super Simple, Yet Extremely Powerful Home Business Ideas to Make Money Right Now!

Fed up with all the crap online today about how to make money right now? Do you want simple, yet proven, business ideas that will not take a lot of money or time to set up and STILL make you a decent income? Well, today you are in luck! I am reviewing 5 of the best businesses online that you start, with very little money and a little time. (More time if you are new to online businesses.)

Note: These ideas are just to get you realizing how many great business opportunities really are available to you. For free—mostly. So stop making it harder than it has to be!

Membership Sites

Ever heard of these? Of course you have! You probably are a member of some of them. The top industries for membership sites includes: dating, diets, and internet marketing. This is just 3 of the many niches that use membership sites, and there are so many more niches that you could build a membership site in!

How much do you suppose you could make with membership sites per month? $100? $200? What if I told you that you could make at least $1,000 per month, with the very real possibility of making more like $10,000 per month? Would you be intrigued? Well, let’s break down how this can happen:

Say you set your membership fee at $20 per month. (That is affordable for most people, as they go out several times a month to eat and most likely spend double that amount each time.)

Then say that you have 100 members. (That’s a modest figure.) That is $2,000 residual income each month that you do not have to work for. What could you do with an extra $2,000 a month?

Okay…here is where it gets really exciting—what if you had 1,000 members? That’s $20,000! Per month! You would be able to quit your job and work on your business full time and really grow it! Are you ready to learn more about membership sites? Keep reading…

What is your passion? Football? Outdoor sports? Magic? Whatever your passion is, chances are there are a lot of other people who share your passions. People that you could make money from. But how do you create a membership site? If you are technologically impaired (like me), then you will need to have someone create a membership site for you. But this could set you back thousands of dollars, and I don’t know about you, but I just don’t have that kind of money to waste on something that can be made a lot cheaper.

Build Me This creates fully loaded pre-built and custom made membership sites that you can start working on immediately to bring in members. For a lot less than having one created from scratch with a freelance programmer…

Blogging

Professional blogging has made its way into our language for a reason—it works. You can get started on this business for free, and review products for payment. You could also review affiliate products, and if people click on your links, you get paid. To get started, follow the steps below and you will be in business!

1. Sign up with either WordPress or Blogger for your free blog. Or, you can buy a domain name, and set up WordPress on your domain. Either way works.
2. Sign up with Commission Junction and start applying for programs to promote.
3. Write reviews.
4. And after 3 months, and 20-30 posts, you can sign up with Pay Per Post to begin reviewing products for immediate payment.

And that is it! You are in business as a Professional Blogger!

Affiliate Marketing

This is similar to blogging, but you do not have to set up a blogging account to get started. Here’s how to get set up:

One—sign up with an affiliate program network, such as Commission Junction, and begin applying for programs.

Two—sign up for an account with HubPages.

Three—Begin creating quality Hubs and add in your links as resources.

And voila! You are in business! Now, there are many more ways to promote your affiliate links, but we are not going into that here. This is just one way to get started. Do more research, after you get started with this method.

Residual Affiliate Marketing

Much like the above method, this one has an advantage—residual checks for one sale. These are like membership sites, where you get paid each month for the same sale you made a few months ago. You can get started with these by going to Lifetime Commissions and signing up for programs. Then, begin adding your link with the methods mentioned above.

Article Writing

“Content is King!” The last business idea is to promote all the above businesses by one method—writing articles and plugging them in places on the Internet where content is needed. That’s virtually anywhere…forums, article directories, hub pages, blogs, websites anywhere, and more. The possibilities of where to put your content are endless! You can learn more about this method at the Bum Marketing Method website.

Also, once you get proficient and make some decent money from this, you can actually do this for others for a nominal fee! Or, you could create a members site where you provide a certain amount of articles for a monthly fee. You could grant your users rights to publish the articles with or without your links…the possibilities are endless here.

And that’s how you can easily and cheaply start a business that will bring in money for years. Get started now, will you??

How to Win the Advertising and Promotion Game

I am certain that, as a business owner, you have often
entertained the question as to how much to spend and where to
spend your advertising dollars. For most small business owners,
these questions can add to the headaches suffered in the course
of normal everyday operations of their business. (Find out how to avoid those headaches with PIPS )

THERE ARE NO SIMPLE ANSWERS

The how much to spend and where to spend it questions have no
easy answers.

Depending on your type of business, many people suggest that the
*how much* should be equal to anywhere from 4% to 10% of your
gross receipts.

The quandary is that a business cannot survive without a fresh
flow of incoming customers. But, a business can seldom generate
a fresh stream of customers without spending money to get the
word out about their business.

THE CHALLENGE OF DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING

Have you ever paid for advertising and sat back to await the
fresh flow of customers, only to find yourself sitting and
sitting and then sitting some more?

Don't feel bad about that. It has happened to many of us before.

See, knowing where to spend the advertising money is not enough
to get the job done.

Where to spend the money only begins to highlight the other
issues connected with advertising:

· Marketing Plan
· Advertising Strategy
· Headlines, Ad Copy and Visual Presentation
· Tracking the Success of Your Advertising Campaigns

THE MARKETING PLAN

The Marketing Plan is used primarily to identify your own
products and services, costs, strengths, weaknesses and the
strengths and weaknesses of your competitors.

ADVERTISING STRATEGY

It is important to understand what you expect to gain from your
advertising.

Do you simply wish to get your name known so that when your
customer will need you, they will think of you first? Or, do you
wish to get your customers in your front door on Saturday?

Do you want your customers to come in and take a look around to
discover the next object that they cannot live without? Or, do
you want them to come in and buy a specific widget?

Do you hope that enough people will come in to buy enough
products or services to pay for your single ad? Or, do you
expect to gain a lifelong customer who will help pay for your
advertising over the course of several years?

When you know what you want, then you will better understand
just how to do it.

HEADLINES, AD COPY AND VISUAL PRESENTATION

You might be surprised how many business owners put out
advertising without regard for the quality of the sales pitch or
presentation. The quality of your distribution outlet or the
amount of money you spent to get there will do little for you if
the advertising vehicle is a junker.

Test all of your advertising materials in smaller markets before
blowing your advertising bank roll on it. You must absolutely
know the value of your advertising before putting large sums of
money behind it.

TRACKING THE SUCCESS OF YOUR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS

Tell your customers to save another 10% when they tell you they
heard or saw your ad in such-and-such location. Suggest that
they can register to win a free widget if they fill out a form
and have them to tell you how they heard of your business.
Advertise a specific widget in your ad and track the sales of
that widget.

It does not matter how you track your advertising --- just make
sure you do it!

IN SUMMARY

The ideal way to spend your advertising budget is to buy a rifle
with a high-powered scope and to only shoot your targets in the
light of day.

If you are not tracking your advertising, then you are shooting
a pellet gun without an attached scope, with blinders on, and
shooting in the dead darkness of night.

Even with a bigger gun, the blinders in the dark constitute the
single largest mistake made by advertisers. If you are unable to
track your advertising to learn what is working well, what is
working somewhat, and what is a money pit, then you are
condemned to repeat your mistakes over and again.

By relying only on gut instinct, you may be choosing to spend
more money in the money pit and to lose all of your money in the
process.

When you get down to the nuts and bolts of making money from
your advertising, you should plan, prepare, track and study your
results. You must have factual information on which to base your
advertising decisions. When you are making the right advertising
decisions, then making money from your business might just come
easy.

Shameless Plug:

Discover 3 easy steps to start
your own home business and subscribe to The Home Biz Guy's
Free Home Business Secrets Mini-Course at:
Profits-Marketing