From Marketing to Solopreneur

From Marketing to Solopreneur Success Story > From: Job To: Solopreneur From Marketing to Solopreneur “I don't miss a thing about being employed. I hated it.” * From Marketing to Solopreneur Eli Trier struggled being surrounded by too many people at work. So she quit, went solo, and found the freedom and creativity she’d been craving. This is her story: the mistakes, the successes and an important lesson on being true to yourself. What work were you doing previously? I worked in tourism and hospitality marketing. I was the Marketing Manager for what was then the largest hotel in Cornwall. Then I moved back to Somerset to be closer to my family and had to take a job as a Marketing Assistant because that was all there was available at the time. It was tough taking a step back; I think that contributed to the dissatisfaction which led to me ultimately leaving employment. What are you doing now? I'm an artist, illustrator and designer. Why did you change? I craved freedom! Also, as an introvert and a highly sensitive person (HSP), I always struggled with spending a lot of time around other people. I started my first business as a way to avoid having another job, so what I did wasn't as important as the fact I was doing it for myself. I started out doing random bits of virtual assistant work and copywriting; that led me into doing a lot of marketing work, because as soon as people in my network found out that I had a marketing background, that was what they asked for. I ended up doing that for a few years before realising that I had (ironically) created another job for myself, albeit with many bosses rather than just one. I looked at what I really wanted to do with my life. Now, I'm moving away from client work altogether, towards writing and illustrating books, and other self-initiated artistic projects. When was the moment you decided to make the change? I was given a copy of Barbara Winter's classic career-change book, Making A Living Without A Job. Are you happy with the change? Yes! What do you miss and what don't you miss? I don't miss a thing about being employed. I hated it. How did you go about making the shift? I just left. I had no plans at all. I left my marketing job and ended up spending a summer potting geraniums in a friend's plant nursery whilst I worked out what to do with my life. Then I moved to a brand new city and set about starting my business and meeting as many people as possible to get the word out. I didn't have any formal training but drawing and painting has been a lifelong hobby for me. My mum is an artist so I was taught to draw at a very young age and revisited it in 2013 when I produced The Gratitude Project, a personal art project. It became very popular and people began asking me to do illustrations and hand lettering for them. It sort of grew from there. I used to live in Wiveliscombe â€" a tiny town in the middle of Somerset â€" before I moved to Bristol to begin my new life. The move was integral to my career change as I wanted a completely fresh start. I could have quit my job and started my self-employment journey without moving to Bristol, but it would have been much more difficult. Living in the city meant that I could build a network super-fast. It also allowed me to take advantage of opportunities and events that just weren't available in the countryside. How did you handle your finances to make your change possible? Badly! I did some temp work to make ends meet initially but it was a bit hairy for a few months. What was the most difficult thing about changing? Other people's concern. What help did you get? I read a lot of books and business blogs. I also met people who were working for themselves and asked loads of questions. What have you learnt in the process? So much about life, people and myself. There's nothing like self-employment to bring up all your personal issues and force you to confront them! What do you wish you'd done differently? I wish I'd had some capital behind me. What would you advise others to do in the same situation? Do whatever it takes. We only get one go at this life â€" make it count. What resources would you recommend to others? Pricing for Profit by Peter Hill, Watertight Marketing by Bryony Thomas, and Marie Forleo's website. To find out more about Eli's work, visit www.elitrier.com. What lessons could you take from Eli's story to use in your own career change? Let us know in the comments below.

5 Healthy Work Habits for 2013

5 Healthy Work Habits for 2013 It’s the end of January, the time of year when some of us sheepishly and quietly give up on our New Year’s resolutions. This annual ritual has inspired the development of dozens of apps designed to help you be more productive and to develop and keep healthy habits. These apps can remind you to floss, eat more fruits and vegetables, exercise, or get more sleep. Here is my take on the five habits you should adopt to have a healthier year at the office.  Get more sleep. You may think that you can function on five hours a night, but most of you are wrong. Humans function at an optimal level on seven or eight hours a night, and getting less each night is the equivalent of coming to work drunk. Sleep deprivation can cause slow reaction times, slurred speech and lower cognitive functioning. Not to mention that you look like heck â€" hardly the way to impress your boss. Stand up more. Getting up each hour (using an app like Healthy Habits can create a gentle alarm to remind you) to take a good stretch and perhaps a short walk around the office can help you remain alert, perform your job better, and may even help you live longer. In studies, workers who sat less than three hours a day actually improved their life span by over two years on average. Drink on the job. Water, or course. Many Americans are chronically dehydrated, which can have effects on your digestion, blood pressure and overall health. If you’re not drinking enough water, chances are you are not performing at your best. That headache you get in the afternoon, or the case of the munchies that shows up after work? Could be that you’re just thirsty. (Hint: feeling thirsty is one of the last symptoms of dehydration.) Get a cup or reusable bottle, add a squeeze of citrus to add some flavor, and drink your eight glasses. Wash your hands more.   Studies have shown that most offices are bacterial breeding grounds.   Shared bathrooms and kitchens present lots of obvious opportunities to pick up viruses and bacteria, but your own desk may also be a hazard. Buy some antibacterial wipes and wipe down hard surfaces. Make it a point to wash your hands with hot soapy water several times a day in addition to the times you use the bathroom or handle food. Or keep a bottle of hand sanitizer at your desk and use it. Pack your lunch. Eating out is expensive and is probably responsible for those extra pounds you’re carrying.   Even healthier choices of foods may be served in portions that add lots more calories than you need. Making lunch at home allows you to save money, control your portions, and make healthier choices like including more fruits and vegetables. It doesn’t have to be hard to accomplish, either; cook a little extra at dinner and pack some of the leftovers in single serving containers for the next day. Or split your meal when you dine out and box half of it for lunch the next day. Healthy is the new sexy for 2013. Try these tips on for a few weeks. You’ll feel better, perform better and may literally be able to run circles around the competition. Did I miss your favorite healthy habit on the jobs? Leave a comment and let me know.

Is Your Work Environment Safe

Is Your Work Environment Safe The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)  employs about 2,100 inspectors  to cover more than 8 million worksites around the country. That comes out to about one inspector per 59,000 workers. While every office, construction site, restaurant and store are required to comply with OSHA standards, its up to business owners and employees to make sure their work environment is a safe place to be every day. So how do you know if your work environment is safe? Identify Potential Hazards You cant have a safe work environment if you dont know what the potential hazards are. Safety Works recommends looking through your records, OSHA logs, workers compensation reports and employee complaints to look for  patterns of unsafe conditions  or practices. Look to see if accidents tend to happen at a certain time of day, at a certain location, on equipment or on the same parts of the body. You also should speak to your employees to see if theyve noticed any problems and how they feel about their physical and mental safety. Bring in Professionals Once you identify any potential hazards, you may want to bring in an inspector, contractor or other professional to fix the problem areas. For example, if you find that there is a wiring problem in your office space, hire an electrician to bring it up to code. Or, if employees have been reporting minor injuries, bring in an inspector to check your machines, personal protective equipment and safety signs to help prevent accidents. For any accidents or health problems that have already occurred, you or your employees may want to hire a lawyer to evaluate the legal aspects. For example, if you discovered  asbestos in your building, a mesothelioma lawyer can help any victims determine if theres a case to pay for medical bills. Train Employees Every time you hire new employees, you need to make sure they receive the proper training to do their job. Show them how to work with your equipment, where your personal protective equipment is and what safety protocols you have in place. Even things that seem like common sense should be covered just in case. Its also important to review safety training with current employees. Set up regular times to review the process you have in place and any new items that employees need to be aware of. Even if you dont work with large equipment, you still should go over physical and mental health with your employees. Encourage them to get up and move during the day, take breaks and report any problems. Set up a Reporting System As a business owner, you need to empower your employees to report anything that makes them feel unsafe. Let your employees know that you take their safety seriously and that they can always speak with you about any problems. You also may want to set up an anonymous reporting system for employees who dont feel comfortable coming to you or another manager. If you hear about any issues, make sure your employees know that you heard them and are going to take all the necessary steps to correct the problems. In addition to on-the-job physical hazards, you also should be open with your employees about mental health and sexual harassment. Your employees should feel safe in every way when coming to work, so let them know that you are making them your top priority.

Graphic Designer Career Profile - VocationVillage

Graphic Designer Career Profile - VocationVillage Todays career profile features Bronson Dunbar, a Graphic Designer and Web Developer. I interviewed Mr. Dunbar to find out what he does at work during a typical day, what skills he uses in his job, and what career advice he has for people considering graphic design and web development as a career.Bronson, how would you describe the main functions of your work?Most of my work is web graphics, with print work done now and then.  Sometimes the client leaves everything up to you, then you need to create an appropriate design for a certain product or service. This can involve researching the market of the product or service and apply that to the design.Client communication is also one of the main functions, if I am not designing, I am replying to clients via email or talking to them over Skype.The services I offer are logo design including stationery, website design and development, eProduct graphics and digital photo album design.What does a typical work day look like for you?Every day is a creative one. I am either updating design drafts for a client, or creating new artwork from scratch, and communicating with clients.What do you like best about your career?I chose graphic design as a career because I am passionate about being creative and solving problems.What are the most challenging things about your career?At times it can be challenging to bring a message across through a design due to the limitations of a project.  Deadlines can also be challenging. When you have a tight deadline, it usually involves having a late night.And now and then you get the occasional difficult client.How did you build your company?After finishing my studies in graphic design, I found it difficult to get a job as a graphic designer. My father suggested I create my own website and start doing work for clients to build my portfolio as well as my experience.My website first went up in 2008 and I have been running it since then. My client base is worldwide, with clients in USA, Canada, UK , and Australia, to name a few.I have in between worked for design companies, but it never felt right so at the end of last year I decided I am going to work for myself fulltime.At this time, I have over 200 clients and I support myself through my website, which is my business.What was your educational and professional background before starting your company?After graduating high school, I completed my diploma in Graphic Design from  AAA School Of Advertising in Johannesburg, South Africa. While in school, I learned the basics of website design. I started my website and my business soon after I graduated.What skills are most important to succeed in your work?Graphic design is about being creative, solving problems using design elements and communicating a message through a design.You also need to be hardworking and be prepared for late nights as deadlines are also an essential part of graphic design.What advice do you have for someone who wants a career similar to your job?As a grap hic designer you need to be able to meet deadlines, interact well with clients, and be a creative individual.You will also need to be computer literate and learn specific software in order to be able to design.  The most common programs designers use are Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign and Adobe Illustrator.If a college student wanted to build a career in graphic design, what should he/she be sure to do?I would recommend doing a course in graphic design, it is important to get the basics of design, layout and typography.Then they will need to build up a portfolio, whether they are looking for a job as a graphic designer or want to start their own business.They can also start your own website and start doing work for clients through their website.I am writing a book aimed at people who have finished their studies as a graphic designer and would like to work for themselves. For more information you can visit my Facebook page.If a mid-career professional decided he/she wanted to make a career change into your field, what are the steps he/she should take to make a successful career transition?They would need to do a course in graphic design in order to have the basic knowledge of design and layout.They can then freelance in order to build up their portfolio. As soon as they have a solid portfolio, they can either look for a job at an advertising agency or start their own website.Are there any commonly held mistaken beliefs about your career?People believe you have to be artistic to be a graphic designer, but this is not necessarily true. If you are creative and have knowledge of computers, you can become a graphic designer.What is the income range for persons in your career?The average income for a graphic designer is $47 000 a year.What are your long-term career goals?My long term goal is to build an established design business both online and offline, expand my client base even more, and become known as a great graphic designer.Any other comments?If you are thin king of becoming a graphic designer and if you meet the criteria of a graphic designer, I say go for it. Graphic design is creative, fun, and in my opinion, a great career choice.Thank you, Bronson!. Please visit Bronson Dunbars website at Bronson Dunbar Graphic Design Web Development.

How To Find The Best Federal Resume Writing Service Reviews

How To Find The Best Federal Resume Writing Service ReviewsLooking for the best federal resume writing service is not always a simple task. It can be confusing but if you want to get an effective federal resume writing service, then you have to follow a couple of simple steps and follow these steps consistently for a period of time so that you will get the results that you are expecting.Businesses usually offer these services in a bid to expand their client base. Since there are many resumes coming in every day from employers looking for someone to fill an opening, it becomes a necessity for these businesses to get as many resumes as possible so that they can get more orders.This can be a tedious process and one thing that these businesses can do is offer the resumes that they have so that it can be used by other clients. But if you want to use these reviews to find the best one, then you should ensure that you are following some basic guidelines.First of all, you should make sure th at you are looking at only the reviews that were written by service providers who actually provide the services. The reviews that you read may be written by people who are not actually working with the service provider. Also, these reviews may have been written by the clients.These clients who write these reviews are not able to tell you the real picture of what it is like working with the providers. What they are most likely trying to do is gain a few customers to their business by claiming that they are in the top of the list. So the next step is to make sure that you avoid these reviews completely.Secondly, you should look for the reviews that come from service providers who are actually using the services of the service provider. So, you can look at these reviews and judge them for themselves.Such reviews are the ones that you should trust completely because these are ones that are coming from actual customers who use the services of the providers. In fact, they might even be th e ones who are using the best federal resume writing service in their own businesses.When you do this, you can ensure that you are getting the very best resume writer that you need. It is a great way to ensure that you will get the best services without having to waste your time on meaningless and weak reviews.

Every workplace should train employees to disagree with the boss - heres why - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Every workplace should train employees to disagree with the boss - heres why - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog The worst accident in the history of aviation happened on the Spanish Island of Tenerife on March 27 1977 when a KLM 747 taking off crashed into a Pan Am 747 that was still on the runway. A long chain of events led up to the crash, but one of the major causes was that the captain of the KLM flight chose to ignore a crucial warning from his co-workers in the cockpit. The KLM captain was no novice in fact he was one of KLMs most experienced pilots, the head of pilot safety training at KLM and featured in some of the companys ads. On the day of the crash the flight was already significantly delayed and any more delays would have forced the plane to stay on Tenerife overnight to comply with pilot rest requirements. The captain, being eager to get off the ground, misheard an instruction from the control tower. He thought he was cleared for take off even though another plane was still on the runway, though he couldnt see it in the heavy fog. Then, and this is crucial, he ignored concerns from both his co-pilot and his flight engineer and proceeded to take off down the runway, eventually hitting the other plane. 583 people died. As a result, less experienced flight crew members were encouraged to challenge their captains when they believed something was not correct, and captains were instructed to listen to their crew and evaluate all decisions in light of crew concerns (source). This is obviously a horrific example but the learning that applies to all workplaces is that much is gained if: Employees can voice their disagreements with managers Managers can listen to their employees However, the implicit power imbalance between employees and managers means that this is not something people do automatically. You have to explicitly train both of these aspects in order to make sure that it becomes part of the corporate culture. There are three reasons why a company should do this. 1: You avoid mistakes If the KLM captain had listened to his subordinates that accident would have been avoided. How many accidents, mistakes and errors are allowed to happen daily in workplaces around the world because employees are too intimidated to disagree with the boss or are ignored when they do so? 2: You make employees feel valued I recounted that story with great sadness, as it had been agonizing to watch my patient suffer through treatments that I believed he would not have chosen had he known the harm they could cause and the unlikeliness of being cured. He eventually was admitted to hospice and died, but only after the chemo had left him with unstoppable and painful bleeding in his bladder, robbing him of a more peaceful and more comfortable end to his life. This is from a NYT story written by a nurse who believed that one of her patients was receiving an unnecessary and incredibly painful round of chemo. She raised her concerns to a doctor and was promptly ignored. Reading the story makes it clear that this made her unhappy. Not only was her patient suffering needlessly but her expertise and judgment was being ignored. The nurse goes on to write this: Many of the nurses I know could share their own, dramatic stories of rescuing patients or catching frightening errors by other health care workers, including doctors. 3: You can weed out managers who are unable to take advice And finally, giving employees permission to disagree and managers the obligation to listen and act on disagreement could help weed out those managers who are pathologically incapable of ever admitting error or admitting that they might not know everything already. That kind of boss is endemic (and is even celebrated in many workplaces) but is ultimately incredibly damaging to business results. Furthermore, when managers keep screwing up, its usually up to employees to keep fixing their mistakes and dealing with the fallout which clearly makes people frustrated and unhappy at work. The upshot There are plenty of articles out there with tips on how to disagree with your boss but most of them suffer from one fundamental problem: They take it as a given that the boss has the power, and therefore it is the responsibility of the employee to raise their disagreement in a respectful way that doesnt bruise the bosses ego. Also, many bosses see disagreement from subordinates as a sign of disloyalty and disrespect. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. Disagreeing with what you see as a bad decision is in fact a sign of engagement and bosses should learn to appreciate that. So I say we should turn that around and create workplaces where anyone is free to disagree with anyone else. And this should apply not only to imminent mistakes but also to workplace practices, workloads, task assignments everything. Every time you as an employee see something you disagree with or think is wrong you should be able to speak up and know that your concerns will be taken seriously. Your take Are you free to disagree with your boss at work? Will your boss listen? What if you can see your workplace doing something silly or wrong do you know how and when to raise that? Related posts How I learned to say no at work. Kill the suggestion box heres a much better way. Meet the company that has no meetings, no emails, no fear and no bosses. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

Candidates; Do you KIS your resume to your Audience - CareerAlley

Candidates; Do you KIS your resume to your Audience - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Failure lies concealed in every success, and success in every failure. Eckhart Tolle Author Byline: Ron Cottick, Author Author Website: http://www.informationexchangegroup.com Candidates; Do you KIS your resume to your Audience? I have been around the business of recruiting for a long time. Having worked in both agencies and the corporate recruiting world, in varying capacities, I have seen resumes of many different sorts. The two most common types of resumes are the functional and the chronological, however, there is little commonality between them. More on that later! Resumes have been very fluid over the years. Candidates put their resume together as best they can. Some get advice from experts in the industry. Some are told that functional resumes are the best, others the chronological is best. For every expert you ask you could almost bet on getting a different answer from each of them. It often would appear that the expert would suggest it be fluffed up here, dressed up there and made prettier to attract the right attention. Who is all the fluff, dress up and pretty for? Did anyone ever think to ask what the audience wants? Doubtful! Your audience, you know, is the Human Resource person who reviews your resume and the Hiring Manager you hope to interview with. I will not get into philosophy of resume writing here, at least not at this time. What I will address though is the functional versus chronological resume and two key elements of the resume that are seldom considered when writing it. Those elements are often overlooked or not addressed by professional resume writers. Those two elements are the KIS (Keep it Simple) and the audience. Chronological versus Functional: Functional, chronological, functional, chronological, that is the question Definition of the chronological resume, simply put; The chronological resume is the one most candidates are familiar with Typically it lists an Objective, Skills Summary, Work History and Education It is laid out with employers, dates, job titles and scope of responsibility/experience for each position held Definition of the functional resume, simply put; The functional resume is one where there would less likely be an Objective, experience would be listed in paragraph format as a Skills Summary and scope of responsibility for positions held would be highlighted in separate paragraph format such as Production Supervision and/or Projection Management Employers would be listed with or without titles at each place of employment and usually not have dates on employment Which one to use There is no absolute right way here but you should have one or the other that is factual, informative and straight to the point Chronological is preferred because more and more employers want to see where you worked, when you worked there (more and more want month and year), and what you did when you were there Chronological does that and I have never seen anyone object to a chronological resume, however, I have seen Hiring Managers request functional resume be replaced with a chronological resume Additionally, I find that chronological resumes lend themselves better to technical positions and Hiring Managers tend to prefer chronological resumes because they can be more fact based and to the point as many technical people are If you are going to use a functional resume I suggest using it for non-technical positions I have seen resumes in all shapes, sizes and fashion. Many times they are not focused, have too much irrelevant information and say things they should not. They just do not look right for presentation and need working over. In many cases, dramatic working over. Here are some suggestions on the most common elements I have seen that need reworking to create the KIS resume. Addressing the KIS, targeting your Audience: The application that the resume is written in is important in that most resume databases employers use today accept only Word Doc resumes and/or work easier with Word Docs PDF, TEXT and others are generally not as user friendly as the old standby Word Doc, so, KIS that resume as a Word Doc resume Do not use some of the formatted resume templates that are out there for writing resumes because they also can be problematic with some databases; simply type out the resume in a Word Doc format Do not expect someone in Human Resources to try and reformat your resume to fit it into their database if need be, it likely will not happen and if it does, it will not be the first thing they do Put ALL contact information on the resume and not in a header or footer Many resumes are looked at on a computer screen and no one I know wants to go to print preview to see the contact information; if the resume is not presented in hard copy, this becomes an unfriendly step that does not win friends or influence people Do not go outside the box when it comes to resumes with pictures, personal information, fancy resume borders; they do not attract the right kind of attention Although the picture may be pretty and personal information interesting, it is likely that it is not relevant and Hiring Managers really dont care; they are mostly interested in what you can do for them An exception could be a sales, marketing or some sort of position where a person would have to be in front of others to do business, however, it should not be a qualifier and I would not go there; you can not go wrong by not having it on a resume Fancy resume borders can not address a candidates qualifications for a job and usually come across as unimpressive; would not do this There is more to the resume that gets the attention of the Hiring Manager than I have brought up here. If the resume is not an easy read and does not get attention early in the read, nothing else will probably matter. Aside from these tips I always suggest you keep in mind your audience and what the position is you are applying for. The resume should speak to both and attempt to sell the Hiring Manager on wanting to set up an interview. If you can not get to the interview you will not be getting anywhere. I do not want to imply here that the resume should do all the talking but it is the first impression you make and you do want to make the best first impression. You want a resume that is easy to read, understandable and gets the attention you are looking for. That would be the difference between a not so good resume as compared to a focused, targeted and excellent resume. A resume, KISd as described above, gives you a much greater chance to get the right kind of attention and move forward to an interview. When you KIS with the resume you can more readily expect to KIS your way to the interview. Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities. Good luck in your search.//