Archive for June, 2008

Archives for Branding You

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The Wall Street Journal says being a motivational speaker is a high-paying gig. Actually what they say is it one of the five most overpaid jobs in the country.

Apparently that’s a bad thing.

For some of us, overpaid is ample motivation. But you really can’t make a name for yourself on the lecture circuit until you write a book.

And if you’re going to write a non-fiction book, quite often you need a novel thesis or – barring that – a gimmick.

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Archives for Social Media

When Groucho Marx famously told the Friars that he “didn’t want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member” he notified them via telegram.

If Groucho were on e-mail today he would be spammed by invitations from friends, acquaintances and total strangers to join dozens of social networking sites. I picture him rolling his eyes at the pointlessness of belonging to clubs that don’t serve cocktails or fat cigars.

Unlike Groucho, I am checking out multiple social networking sites as part of a careers research project. One observation: Social networking sites are often the first place where professionals actively manage relationships that can advance their careers.

It’s no secret that quite often in life who you know is more important than what you know. These sites help automate the former so efficiently that I would unhesitatingly recommend them to everyone.

Choosing the right social networking site to advance your career isn’t a serious problem. If one doesn’t pan out, you can always try another, perhaps more or less specialized one.

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Archives for Perfect Job

Back in the day, enterprising housewives earned “lipstick money” peddling beauty products to their neighbors. Men were relegated to lugging around brushes, Bibles and vacuum cleaners.

Flash forward to 2007. That knock on the door is your Avon man.

One of Avon’s more successful male sales reps is Bobby McKinney, a 58-year-old fire code inspector from Winter Haven, Fla. Last year the dual-careerist tallied $800,000 in sales along with his wife. They reportedly have an astonishing 170 sales reps working for them.

A beauty career is in the eye of the beholder. Consider the fact that Yankee baseball superstar Derek Jeter recently teamed up with Avon to create “Driven,” a $25 cologne, sure to be a hit with all genders. Maybe it will open doors for Avon salesmen.

Okay, I kid, but beauty is big business. Last year Avon, the global beauty and consumer products company – with nearly five million independent sales reps – earned $8.7 billion in revenue. Men can’t afford to gloss over this career path anymore.

Archives for Employment

Welcome to the job world, class of 2008!  This promises to be one of the toughest summers for new job hunters in the past decade.

If Friday had been a Groundhog’s Day for new grads, there would have been no mistaking the message. On Friday we learned that:

• oil struck record highs – at a record pace, rising US$11 in a day  (US$138 barrel)
• the stock market dropped 400 points
• unemployment climbed to 5.5 percent (not historically high but not a good sign either)
• the dollar continues to plummet on world currency markets

If you can postpone entering the job force for another year or two, I’d consider it; the job economy will not be straightened out this year. Unfortunately foreign travel is a bit of a stretch thanks to the diminuitive dollar. This coming week is supposed to be rough.

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Archives for Branding You

10. You can stay busy on a 17-hour plane ride without watching an in-flight movie.

9. For four weeks of vacation in year one you would learn enough Flemish to say Het spijt me, ik spreek geen Vlaams.

8. Six years of German – what else is it good for?

7. Your friends know it’s faster to Skype you with geography questions than it is to type them into Google.

6. You no longer fear salad on any continent.

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Archives for Branding You

It’s not often that we see an international enterprise that is entrepreneurial, eco-friendly and earning money too.

That’s why we were so inspired to read about Mark Bent’s SunNight Solar company in a New York Times article last year.

Bent, a 49-year-old Houston oilman, has developed and is distributing a solar-power flashlight for poor villagers in the developing world. Some two billion people – about one-third of the world’s population – don’t have access to affordable lighting after dark, estimates say.

His invention gives seven hours of light after one day of re-charge and the batteries last at least three years. Since he began to develop the product in August 2005, Bent has worked with the Department of Energy, NASA and American universities.

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