Friday, May 29, 2020

How Employer Brand Teams Can Respond to a Crisis

How Employer Brand Teams Can Respond to a Crisis What happens to employer branding in a time of crisis? In this special episode responding to the global crisis surrounding COVID-19, Jörgen Sundberg and Andy Partridge connect on how employer brand teams can respond and what Link Humans is doing to help clients. Have a listen to the episode below, keep reading for a summary and be sure to subscribe to the  Employer Branding Podcast. Listen on  Apple Podcasts,  Spotify,  Stitcher  or  Soundcloud. In this episode you’ll learn: Why a downturn doesnt mean there wont be talent challenges How the focus of employer brand is shifting What employer brand teams can do when the company is not hiring How talent will evaluate an employers response to this crisis Shaping up the employer brand strategy for when the economy picks up again Andys Jorgens views on how to use this time effectively More resources here: Employer Brand Leadership During a Pandemic How Coronavirus Responses Define Employer Brands EVP Pillars in a Time of Crisis Employer Brand and Coronavirus

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Beetroot A Centuries-Old Superfood Solution for Everyone

Beetroot A Centuries-Old Superfood Solution for Everyone The ancient superfood beetroot provides health benefits for every stage of life “Superfood” has become a popular buzzword tossed around between health connoisseurs and distinct companies, touting their product as the latest and greatest superfood. There has been a substantial 202% increase globally in the number of new food and drink products launched containing the term “superfood.” Market research analysts expect the increased popularity of superfoods to continue growing steadily at a CAGR close to 16% by 2022. Amid all the noise, it can be easy to get confused about the value of each superfood and its effectiveness. Why not place your trust in an ancient superfood that has proved to be incredibly beneficial to humanity over the centuries? Since the Middle Ages, beetroot has been used to treat numerous illnesses and conditions related to blood and indigestion. Time continues to advance, but beetroot still contains the same nutritious substances that helped people hundreds of years ago, and it can continue to aid people at different stages of life today. Rishabh Chokhani, CEO and founder of Naturevibe Botanicals, shares the nutritional value that beetroot powder can bring to everyone’s daily life, from the elderly to pregnant women. Greater Endurance for the Elderly Exercise is a necessary activity for all â€" regardless of age â€" to ensure a healthy lifestyle. That said, it can be difficult to exercise if you are elderly because the years wear you down and it doesn’t get any easier, especially if you have heart disease. Scientists from the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Centre found that a daily dose of beetroot can improve the aerobic endurance of heart disease patients by a phenomenal 24% in only one week. Consuming beetroot as an older adult also has beneficial effects on resting blood pressure. Beetroots contain beta-carotene, a form of vitamin A that helps prevent cataracts, as well as minimizing the macular degeneration that commonly occurs in older adults. Vitamin A is a powerful antioxidant substance that is involved in various essential activities of the body. According to Wake Forest University, for the first time, researchers have shown that drinking beet juice can increase blood flow to the brain in older adults â€" a finding that can hold great potential for combating the progression of dementia. Despite the fact that beetroot has been around for centuries, research is still being conducted because the benefits of beetroot are endless, for the elderly and everyone alike! A Healthier Pregnancy During a pregnancy, the diet is an especially significant worry for most soon-to-be mothers, as there’s the baby’s health to consider. Many dieticians recommend the integration of beetroot into the daily diet plan, as it contains multiple health benefits. Beetroot is heavily packed with iron, which increases the hemoglobin content of the blood. A greater intake of iron will help prevent anemia during the pregnancy. Beetroot is also a great source of vitamin C, which enhances the absorption of iron in the body. Consuming beetroot also promotes proper fetal development because it is rich in folic acid, which is essential for regular tissue growth. Osteoporosis becomes a greater risk when pregnant, but it can be prevented through regular consumption of beetroot.   Beets contain silica and calcium, which strengthen bones and prevent the decalcification of the bones and teeth during pregnancy. Beetroot also contains a powerful antioxidant, betacyanin, which holds blood purifying and detoxification properties. This will help eliminate toxins from the body and ensure that fatty acids don’t stay in your system. All these health benefits help you maintain peace of mind and focus on the wonderful experience of being pregnant. An Everyday Healthy Choice The health benefits of beetroots are endless and still being researched to this day. According to a research study by the American Heart Association, drinking 500ml of beetroot juice a day can help significantly reduce blood pressure levels. Not only does beetroot powder help you at all stages of life, but it also helps the treatment of indigestion, anemia, constipation, kidney disorders, gallbladder disorders, and heart diseases. Beetroot is a great source of vitamin C, which aids in preventing asthma symptoms, as well as boosting the immune system in numerous ways. Even if you have no ailments, beetroot is a great source of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals, which strengthen your health to help you power through your days. Next time you’re shopping for healthy foods, place your trust in the superfood that has been around for hundreds of years. Your body will thank you.

Friday, May 22, 2020

Are You Paralyzed by Potential Get Over It! - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Are You Paralyzed by Potential Get Over It! - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Many potential authors remain potential authors not because they dont have ideas or cant write, but because theyre paralyzed by potential; they never write a personal brand building book because they are so trapped by what they could write that they never get started and finish their book. When youre trapped by potential, you never move beyond the the idea stage; each time you start to write, your attention wanders as new ideas appear. Progress grinds to a standstill as ideas build upon ideas; soon, you find yourself dreaming about follow-up books, rather than completing your first book! I discovered paralyzed by potential in Patrick Snows Creating Your Own Destiny: How to Get Exactly What You Want Out of Life and Work a book that combines equal parts inspiration and practical, hard-headed advice. Creating Your Own Destiny is also an excellent example of a life-changing, personal-brand-building book that transformed the authors life from a nobody looking for a job to an internationally-respected   somebody as a top-shelf inspirational keynote speaker, coach, and consultant in the post 9/11 world. Originally self-published, Patrick Snow sold over 150,000 copies of Creating Your Own Destiny before signing a 2-book contract from John Wiley for a trade version. Are you paralyzed by potential? Here are some of the symptoms that might indicate you are paralyzed by potential: Continued lack of progress on your book. You may be paralyzed by potential if months go by without concrete progress in terms of 1) finalizing your books table of contents, 2) preparing a book proposal, and 3) completing the two sample chapters literary agents and trade book publishers are going to want to see before considering your project. Its a definite red flag if years have gone by since you first thought about writing a brand-building book. Exhilaration when thinking about new ideas. Theres nothing wrong with excitement, unless the excitement of new ideas gets in the way of taking concrete action to move your book project forward. Agents, publishers, and readers dont buy potential; they only invest in your project when they see concrete, tangible, examples of what you can do and what you have done. A lack of progress on your book, coupled with the intense excitement that occurs when brainstorming new book and content new ideas with friends, is frequently accompanied by frustration over the quality of what you have written. Frustrated by perfection The search for perfection is the Number One Obstacle that prevents authors from finishing their books. If you find yourself constantly frustrated by the quality of what youve written, youre probably suffering from both the paralysis of potential and the paralysis of perfection. Its all too easy for creative, quality-driven individuals to forget that the contents of the books they purchase, and turn to for inspiration, often bears little resemblance to the initial drafts that the authors submitted to the publisher. All authors need editing. To compare your first drafts with published books is setting yourself up for failure. The books you enjoy reading have likely been edited and re-edited several times. Using freewriting to get over the paralysis of potential Several books have recently appeared that offer new insights into overcoming the paralysis of potential and its partner, the paralysis of perfection. One of the best was Scott Belskys Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming the Obstacles Between Vision Reality, discussed in an my earlier Personal Branding Blog post. Another book that offers a pragmatic approach to overcoming the paralysis of potential is Mark Levys Accidental Genius: Using Writing to Generate Your Best Ideas, Insight, and Content. Mark devotes Part l of Accidental Genius to The Six Secrets to Freewriting. The starting point to understanding freewriting Marks statement that our minds hold a vast invisible inventory of thoughts and expertise that, if we could reach them, could create ideas and solve problems. As Mark wrote: Freewriting teaches you to how to get at whats inside your head, so you can convert the raw material of your thoughts into something usable, even extraordinary. Mark continues, Freewritingpushes the brain to think longer, deeper, and more unconventionally than it normally would. By giving yourself a handful of liberating freewriting rules to follow, you back your mind into a corner where it cant help but come up with new thoughts. You could call freewriting a form of forced creativity. Here are Marks 6 secrets to freewriting: Secret #1: Try Easy. Instead of trying to write perfect prose, calm your expectations and just get some decent words and ideas down on the page. Secret #2: Write Fast and Continuously. Fast, continuous writing calms the brain and overcomes the natural temptation to self-edit while youre writing. Secret#3: Write Against a Limit. Give yourself a time limit; use a timer, and keep writing until the timer goes off. Secret #4: Write the Way You Think. Focus on the ideas, and write the same way you talk around the kitchen table with your family. Secret #5: Go with the Thought. Free associate new ideas and develop them, following them wherever they lead. Secret # 6: Redirect Your Attention.Ask yourself questions about what youve just written, and answer them in your own words. Youre not alone Dont panic if you feel youre paralyzed by potential. If youre not making the progress you feel you should, remember that its a normal part of writing. Indeed, the better a thinker and a writer you are (or want to be), and the more you care, the more likely the paralysis of potential will interfere with your progress. In many cases, successful writing is not a matter of creativity or grammar; its the result of recognizing and taking purposeful action to get over obstacles like the paralysis of potential. The 3 books mentioned above can make a big difference in your ability to write and publish a brand-building book, as can book coaches and interacting with other brand-building authors who are addressing the same challenges you are. Author: Roger C. Parker shares ideas for planning, writing, promoting, profiting from brand building books in his daily writing tips blog. His latest book, #BOOK TITLE Tweet: 140 Bite-Sized Ideas for Compelling Article, Book, Event Titles, offers step-by-step ideas and examples plus easy-to-use tips.

Monday, May 18, 2020

Our Lives Have Become One Giant Marketing List - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Our Lives Have Become One Giant Marketing List - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Overview of the marketing list phenomenon Ive been thinking a lot of how web 2.0 has given way to mass, yet niche, marketing. If you are in this space, then you might want to take a second look at the communities youve joined, your blog and other social tools that youre currently using. To me, what has started off as a social culture is slowly leading into a web marketing machine. Everything, from your Facebook friends to your LinkedIn network and even your Twitter followers is now considered a list. Yes, I know, this might sound terrible, but really, its a major opportunity. As a brand, you need to be your own Chief Marketing Officer. This means, that even though you produce content, you have to market it and thats the hardest part. You must look at all of your online affiliations as lists that you can freely market yourself to. Every time you update your Facebook status, you are sending a marketing message and a reminder to everyone that you are still alive (consistently reminding them of your personal brand). Please take my first poll ?? Matt Mullenweg and his team at Automatic have purchased Polldaddy, which is an embeddable poll widget for websites. This means that your WordPress.com blogs post editor has the capability to add a sleek poll very easily. If he have a WordPress.com blog, please read the FAQ if you have issues using this new feature. [polldaddy poll=1000906] More observations Once youve taken notice of the amount of people on each of your lists, youll start to consider that there is a lot of overlap. When someone follows you on Twitter, they might send you a Facebook friend request. When someone subscribers to your blog, they might want to join your LinkedIn network, etc. The reality is that the people in your network that you will actively engage with on a reoccurring basis will be the ones in your close community. Take action 1) Seek to actively grow your list, so at some point you will be positioned to generate a lot of revenue. 2) Look to your biggest lists and become more intimate with them. 3) Actively promote the lists you have, which dont have as many numbers as your high volume lists. Many people do this by blogging about their new mailing list or to follow them on Twitter. 4) On some of your lists, youll be able to formally approach a subscriber. When you do, ask them to refer the list to more people. 5) Dont just make lists for the sake of making lists. Try and surround yourself with people like you and who are interested in your topic. 6) Remember that there are real people on the other end of each blog post, tweet, email message, etc. Every time you communicate, be sure to put your best brand forward. 7) Dont freak out if you dont have 1,000 subscribers. You should let your lists grow organically because friendship and interest cannot be forced!

Friday, May 15, 2020

Should You Use a Resume Cover Letter Writing Service?

Should You Use a Resume Cover Letter Writing Service?A resume cover letter writing service is one of the best things that a job applicant can do to help them land a job. They are often not a required step but are highly encouraged.For a resume cover letter writing service to be effective it needs to be creative and witty and is used to market your career in an attention-grabbing manner. This is one of the first and most important steps you need to take when submitting your resume. Some writers might not be able to come up with the perfect resume cover letter but the one who specializes in this will know what should be done and what should not be done.Make sure you give them enough time to finish writing your letter. Be realistic about the time you have for the job. Be certain that it matches the length of the job. Also try to get a resume cover letter writing service who has experience in a job opening that matches your qualifications.Try to narrow down the applicants the writing ser vice is targeting. You can do this by telling them what skills or attributes you think they should highlight on your resume cover letter. You might even try to show them examples of other letters you have written yourself and also a sample of what a well-written letter would look like.A resume cover letter is also an opportunity to showcase other qualities that you may not have displayed in a standard business letter. Remember that people reading a resume cover letter are much more likely to buy into your sales pitch if they can see something you cannot. However, it is important that you keep in mind that employers tend to ignore the niceties of a business letter and just want to get to the point.You should never give too much attention to a resume cover letter as you are competing with other candidates for the same position. Your goal is to catch their attention and find out if they are interested in you or not.You can find a number of different job agencies that you can send your resume to. Once you send it off, they will gather the best letters from all of the applicants and contact you to schedule a meeting to discuss your candidacy. If you do receive a response, you can then discuss what you were able to highlight on your own.If you do not receive any responses or find no interest then keep looking or use the service again next time. It is vital that you go out and find the best resume cover letter writing service you can and start using them for all of your future job applications.

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Becoming A Great Leader No Experience Necessary! - CareerAlley

Becoming A Great Leader No Experience Necessary! - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Its a very hard challenge to climb up the career ladder when you lack the necessary experience. Competition is so fraught for every job, regardless of how high or low the role is, a lot of us would be begging to have a chance taken on us, although we dont have the necessary qualifications or know the right people. It seems that a lot of people find their way in via the old adage of who you know, not what you know. Its the same thing if youre trying to become a great leader, but you dont have any prior leadership experience. On the face of it, it would be very unlikely that someone would be willing to give you a chance as a leader because youve never demonstrated any capabilities of it. But why a lot of us seem to think that great leaders fall out of the sky, in fact, it is all about developing the right skills. So how are you able to develop these leadership skills without being given the opportunity to do so? Lets have a look. Not Being Afraid To Think Differently Picture One of the more important things about standing out whether youre looking for that promotion or not is in going against the grain, not in that rogue cowboy way, but actually showing that you are made of different stuff to your contemporaries. Weve all seen the type of person that expects to get promoted, and they seldom do because of the attitude that they put out. They may display a condescending nature, or they are someone who is a bit of a know it all but the reason these people are always passed over for promotion is that, usually, they want to be a leader for the wrong reasons. They are looking at it from the cliched perspective of the leader that sits in their Ivory Tower, gets two-hour lunches and feel they are justified in shouting or belittling people. This isnt what a leader is about. Its a fine balance to get right because if you are at the bottom of any career ladder, you want to make sure that you are going for the prime opportunities, but in showing that you are capable of leading a team, you need to show that youre a cut above. This means not bowing to criticism or pressures, but being your own entity Striving For Personal Development Image We are all unfinished works, so if you are someone whos got that drive for developing yourself in as many ways as possible, this makes you the right caliber of person when it comes to being a leader. Its the person who goes home at the end of the day and puts their feet up in front of the TV which is unlikely to have that motivation to progress much further. You have that nagging feeling inside you that your work isnt done yet and you keep pushing until you find what feels right. And while it is an admirable personality trait to constantly seek out information there is such a thing as working smart as opposed to working hard. Anybody can be a leader and experience doesn't have to be the way in. So make yourself into the right person for the job. Tweet This A lot of people work hard their entire lives without any sort of pay off, and while they have done honest work for honest pay, its the people that can identify the best resources and focus on those that will help and progress further quicker. If youre looking to be a leader, then you need to identify the right steps to get there or understand the system. Thats where a lot of people fall down they dont undertake the right research and go about it the smart way. The best approach is to seek your education online especially when it comes to progressing in a standard business model because the structure of an organization seldom differs (unless you are changing industries). And while theres a lot of courses, blogs, and articles online about making it to the top, you need to figure out which ones are the best quality. So its always beneficial to go for reputable online courses or degrees, or go on sites like LinkedIn and look at the influencers in your particular industry and get inspiration from their journey up to the top. You can get plenty of great ideas from the online TED talks or high-quality seminars. The important thing in researching your progression is not to be so general in your research but nail down exactly what you want, and how to go about it. The person who researches the general area is essentially the person hedging their bets on a generality. Focus and definition are the names of the game when it comes to progressing up any career ladder and getting these leadership roles. Always be learning! The Fine Details image Running for a leadership position isnt just about the right mental attitude and ability to research, of course, its about the image you present of yourself in every facet, and the first thing that people see will be your resume. This is going to be your first opportunity to show what you are all about and so the skills you need to show need to be managerial or leadership ones. And if youve never been in a leadership role before, you can still make the most of the jobs where youve had routine tasks to complete but highlight examples of where you took a leadership approach. For example, if you coordinated something at some point, this is a leadership trait. If you succeed the application process and make it to an interview, the important thing is to prepare and to draft important questions about the organization that are well thought out and highlights your interests from the leadership point of view. Such as strategy, product development of the future, or professional development rath er than the typical questions about pay, dress code, etc. Effective leaders take a diagnostic approach to situations. They have an evolved situational awareness and read social cues quickly and astutely. They rapidly assess and evaluate situations and ask themselves how can I add value at this particular moment. This sophisticated awareness and deliberation enables leaders to anticipate how others will likely react to them, helping them better determine the right course of action. Berkeley.edu The last piece of the puzzle is about confidence. Being a leader means you are able to influence people and bring about change, so you need to demonstrate this ability. For those that havent been in a leadership position before it can be tough, especially when it comes to having anxieties about leading people for the first time. But you should take this opportunity to build up this level of confidence which begins with your appearance by dressing professionally. As the saying goes, dress for the job you want, not the one you have and if you feel the benefit of techniques like mindfulness and breathing exercises to help you regain focus, then you should do it. Gunning for a leadership role without prior experience is a massive task, but its not an impossible one! The greatest leaders are the ones that are more in-tune with who they are rather than those people that are trying to please everyone. Anybody can be a leader and experience doesnt have to be the way in. So make yourself into the right person for the job. What's next? Ready to take action? Choose the right tools to help you build your career. Looking for related topics? Find out how to find the opportunities that help you grow your best career. Subscribe and make meaningful progress on your career. It’s about time you focused on your career. 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Friday, May 8, 2020

5 tips for making a living (and a life) in the arts

5 tips for making a living (and a life) in the arts It may be a stereotype, but artists are not known as good business people. One of those “right brain/left brain” things, maybe? But the skills of an artist â€" big imagination, creativity, adaptability, and the willingness to learn new things and take on new challenges â€" can serve an artist as well in business as they do in creative work. Here Laura Zabel, executive director of Springboard for the Arts and founder of Creative Exchange, shares five tips for artists wanting to make a living and a life in the arts. These tips are also helpful for business people looking to bring more creativity to their company. 1. Don’t set your sights on starving What you want to get out of your career and how satisfied you feel will depend a lot on how you frame and understand success. Don’t let yourself be caught in the frame of a “starving artist,” a view that limits the satisfaction and terms of your success to how much you starve. Identifying what you want in terms of financial resources, community connections, social change, personal growth, and other important personal criteria will extend your understanding and scope for your artistic career, help you identify your career moves, build valuable partnerships, and prioritize what you want out of your creative life. 2. Make time to make your work You may have heard of the 10,000 hour rule, which proposes that it takes 10,000 hours, or approximately 10 years of daily practice, to attain mastery of a subject or discipline. Whether this is a true measurement or not, you need to make time to do your work, whether it is in the studio, rehearsal room, at a writing table, or community meeting. Take an inventory of your day to determine when you are spending time productively and when you feel less productive. Then align your work schedule so that you are doing your most creative work in your best time slot, and more routine or mechanical work in your less creative time. 3. Price your work right Selling creative work can be a daunting challenge for any artist, and pricing your work can seem like a high hurdle. Depending on your arts practice, you may have raw material or studio costs, labor costs for your working time, overhead costs for getting your work to market, and a profit that you want to make. Knowing these numbers â€" and not being afraid of them â€" will help you set a price that puts you on a path to success and profit. If that still sounds daunting, don’t worry, there are online resources and videos to help you nail your price point. 4. Don’t go it alone Artists are amazing learners, creators, and problem solvers, taking on new challenges and learning new skills and trades as their creativity directs them. It’s not surprising to meet an actor who also knows about carpentry and project management, or a musician who is also an electrical engineer and poster designer. Just because we have these skills and take on challenges doesn’t mean there isn’t a point to bring in other administrative or professional help. Get educated on legal terminology and accounting best practices, and seek out resources like Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and recordkeeping software that can help you make the most of your work of art. 5. Creativity flows in many directions Artists know that creative inspiration can come from anywhere; the same is true for professional creativity. Find other artists in your field to share tips, support systems, and learn together. Find artists in other fields and learn from the way they organize their business, attract audiences, and support their work financially. Look to brands, companies, and organizations outside of the arts to see what you can learn and take from them; how they keep customers engaged and their products fresh. And if you are a business outside the arts, ask an artist how they would run your business and how they might approach your company’s issues. There is an enormous body of literature out there about creativity in business, and how the future of business belongs to creative, right-brain oriented thinkers. Artists already have that in spades, and spend their careers iterating and developing creative processes and products that spark our imaginations and inspire us. An economy where artists are well-versed and supported in business is an economy where businesses can best be buoyed by the creativity of artists, the best of all possible worlds.