Follow your passion – at the beach!

How do you teach yourself a skill and then win awards for it, while enjoying ocean views from your beachside office? That’s what Angela Nielsen, President and Creative Director of One Lily Web Solutions (www.onelily.com) has experienced.

As an award-winning web designer, Angela has built her company on a willingness to learn, hard work and the support of people around her. Listen to how this mother of four does it.

What makes a forum?

I held my first Free Coaching Forum on Wednesday March 25th. I didn’t publicize it in any way, other than to post it on my radio show page at Blog Talk Radio - and it showed. What I learned is, if you don’t want people to call in, don’t publicize it. The next Free Coaching Forum will be held on Wednesday, April 29, 2009.

In the March 25th episode, I shared my “Five C’s of a Career You Will Love,” along with a few other things. Give it a listen if you’re looking to make a good career choice.

Brand Yourself – Fearlessly

This Wednesday April 1st, I’ll be interviewing Robert Friedman, President and Founder of Fearless Branding, a San Francisco-based brand development firm. Fearless Branding helps service businesses define their competitive advantage and create powerful messages so that the right clients get it.

In this interview you’ll hear about tools that will help you sell and market more effectively, including new ways to differentiate your business from the competition, an approach to defining your business’s strengths and unique value and how to identify your ideal clients and learn what they really need.

Listen live on Wednesday April 1st at 2 pm Arizona time, either on your telephone by calling (347) 202-0406, or on your computer. For more listening instructions, see my Radio Show page.

“Eighty-percent of the jobs found by people in America are found through networking.” That, according to Gina Nelson, Executive Recruiter and Founder of Hire Resolutions, is what you ought to spend your time doing if you’re looking for a job – networking.

Gina was my Talk About Success Radio Show guest on March 11th, where she presented a lot of great insight into how to succeed in today’s job market. She also shares some of the common mistakes people are making that hurt their success, along with some new things she is doing to help people reach the next level in the job search game.

Listen to this timely, insightful and informative interview by clicking here.

Once again, I was asked to respond to a question posed by readers of the Career Builder section of the Arizona Republic newspaper, in a column known as “Ask The Experts.” Following is a recent Q&A from that column.

Question:

Is earning an MBA even worth it in this economy, when no one is hiring? What are the benefits/disadvantages to earning an MBA?

Answer:

I’ve heard CEOs say that they prefer someone with experience over someone with an MBA. That might be true, but if you’re competing for a job with someone who has equivalent experience, credentials like an advanced degree will often break the tie.

Now that companies are scrubbing their ranks looking for people to lay off, having an MBA might save you, unless of course you’ve not done the other things well. As a job seeker, it may be that edge you need to get the offer. It also demonstrates that you’re ambitious, interested in self-improvement and serious about your career. These are good traits and the benefits could outweigh the investment of time and money in getting your MBA.

This is a great time to be improving ourselves, while not dwelling on the negativity that surrounds us. If you can make the investment, go get that degree.

On February 25th, the guest on my Talk About Success Radio Show was Tom Bruein of Sharp Content, a San Francisco based copywriting firm. Tom’s services include the writing and editing of marketing copy for small to mid-sized companies, with an emphasis on website copywriting. I’ve known Tom for over 25 years and he has been my “go to guy” for content editing from the very beginning of InStep Coaching.

Tom is quite the expert when it comes to getting your right message across; especially on the web. He says, “They may not know it, but anyone reading your marketing material is hoping to get certain key points covered before they decide to take action. Leave one of these out, and your prospect may still feel as if they have a lingering, unanswered question in the back of their mind.”

To help his clients, Tom has developed seven guidelines for creating marketing content that delivers the impact you want. Here’s a sampling of the guidelines that Tom discusses in our interview:

1. Target Audience – clearly state and connect who you are marketing to so they know they are your ideal client and you are suited for them.
2. Problem – you need to describe the issue that you help them overcome, so they know that you understand their needs.
3. Solution – what should they expect to experience? This is your big promise, the reason why you run a business that serves others. It should convey a benefit not just features or advantages, and ideally it is in the form of an emotion, rather than just a product or service.

To hear how Tom can help you create or refine your website’s copy, listen to his complete 30-minute interview right here, and get all seven of his guidelines.