Successful Blog

What Makes for a Good Career Transition?

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Sometimes you need a change.

Perhaps the career you chose years ago has changed enough so that it doesn’t fit you anymore, or maybe you graduated with one degree, but feel you’re better suited somewhere else.

People change careers throughout their working years, some as early as in their 20’s and some much later in life

If you are contemplating a career transition, think about why….

  • Have you lost the fulfillment you once found in your job?
  • Are you looking to improve your financial situation?
  • Do you need something more flexible to better suit your family?
  • Have you hit a dead end in your current career?
  • Are you simply ready for a change

All of these are valid reasons to seek a career change.

The key is making a smooth transition. A career change is enough transition within itself; you want the adjustment to be as easy as possible.

Try some of these tips:

  • Research – If you are interested in something, take the time to really research it. As the following article looks at, if you’re thinking about home inspection, learn 5 reasons to train for a home inspection career, which include strong market need, salary, and flexibility. You may want to search the negatives as well, just so you know all the angles.
  • Talk to someone in that career field – If you know a home inspector or realtor, have coffee with them and find a first-hand perspective on the job. Use them as a source of information to answer any questions.
  • Budget – You may go a little while without the same income you’ve had. Take this into consideration and be smart financially during the transition, even before.
  • Be realistic about your strengths and weaknesses – If you are unorganized, you may have trouble running your own business. If you are an extrovert you may go a little stir crazy working at home alone all day.
  • Have a timeline – Know how long it will take. For instance, you need not only the client base and solid reputation to be a successful home inspector, but you also need training and licensing. This won’t happen overnight, so plan accordingly. Figure out the best time to leave your current job in accordance with a beginning a new one. Do you want all of your training done before leaving your current job? Do you want some time in between for home projects? Think about it and have a plan.

Most people don’t stay in the same career all of their lives, much less the same job.

There’s probably going to be some transition in your work life, so make the best of it and turn it into a smooth, positive experience.

With some thoughtful, thorough research and planning, you can be off to a successful new career before you know it.

About the Author: Heather Legg writes on topics related to small business, working for home and social media.

Happier Employees Make for Better Results

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Can you say with certainty that you have a bunch of happy employees? What if it is just a few?

Whether the numbers are high, medium or low, happy employees make for a world of difference in the business world.

For those individuals running large companies, there is sometimes a disconnect with the workers. This may not be due to an unpleasant owner, but more so because there are so many employees for one to keep track of.

Meantime, those running smaller operations can have an advantage in that they oftentimes have one-on-one relations with the various employees, especially the managers of different departments.

No matter what your relationship is when it comes to owner-employee, there are a number of ways you can increase the odds of having happy employees, employees who typically will turn out to be more engaged and more productive.

Insurance Brings Peace of Mind

There are various opportunities for medical coverage, wellness, and growing with the business you can offer your employees. They include:

  • Health benefits – Next to one’’s salary, having the proper healthcare coverage in place is likely paramount for the majority of employees. Locating affordable health care plans does not have to be an agonizing chore for you as a business owner. If you don’’t like the one you currently have in place and/or are just interested in seeing what else is out there, you have several roads to travel. While your HR (human resources) head may be tasked with the assignment, you or they can network with other business owners you are friendly with to see who they use. You can also turn to the Internet and use social media and blog posts to learn more about employee health insurers’’ who may be a good fit for your company;
  • Fitness – Going hand-in-hand with health benefits, encourage your employees to stay or get fit. Not only is it for their benefit, but healthy employees are less likely to miss work days or be out of action for an extended period of time. You can offer something as simple as gym memberships to qualified and interested employees (typically after their probationary period is over). Having a solid wellness program in place benefits your employees and your overall business goals;
  • Advancement – Lastly, if you worked at a company that gave you little or no room to grow and advance, would you stay there very long? In most cases, the answer would be no, so make sure your employees have options to move up the corporate ladder no matter what size business you run. Not only is there financial incentive for employees when having the opportunity to move up in the business, but there self-esteem and ability to work better with co-workers and customers will grow too.

When you give your employees the ability to care for themselves and their families, not to mention achieve some personal professional goals, you are more likely to have an overwhelming majority of happy employees.

As a business owner, what makes your employees happy?

About the Author: Adam Griffith writes on different topics for the Internet, among which are business, health and finance.

Connect with the Right Business Phone System for Company Growth

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Is your business telephone system helping you to grow?

It’s easy to overlook your business phone system and just use whatever is available, but in fact choosing the right phone system can provide your business with a valuable boost.

Picking the right telephone system is a crucial choice for your business and can help determine your success. Your business phone system can make it easier for your customers to reach you, and for your team to collaborate with each other.

The result is enhanced customer service, and better teamwork, two elements which are vital to the success of your business.

Helping Your Customers to Reach You

The right business phone system can make a noticeable difference to the quality of your customer service.

Whether they call or text, email or leave a message on your social media profiles, your customers are looking for a quick and helpful response. The right telephone system can help you give them just that.

VoIP (voice over internet protocol) phone systems often offer feature-rich solutions which you can make the most of to boost your customer service.

VoIP allows you to stay in touch wherever you are by forwarding calls to your mobile device, cutting down the amount of times your customers will have to hear “I’m sorry, I’m not at my desk right now”.

With features such as find me and follow me, you can set up calling sequences for yourself and your team that will call different numbers in sequence.

The right system can do more than just find you, however.

You can make use of auto attendants to help your customers reach the right person, or us alert features that will let you know via email when you have a new voice mail (some will even transcribe the voice mail for you).

Choosing a phone system with the right features means your customers will benefit from customer service that makes it easy for them to get in touch with you and get a response.

Keeping Your Team Connected

As the following article looks at, the same features that make the right phone systems for businesses a boon for your customer service can also help your team to stay connected, and can even help boost their performance.

As well as the features outlined above, your team can make use of VoIP phones to make conference calls or even use instant messaging apps.

Whether collaborating with a colleague in an office several hundred miles away or updating your team with vital information while you’re out and about, the right phone system makes it easier to keep in touch.

Some business phone systems can even be used to help with training. They include features that allow managers to listen to customer service calls, join in on the call if needed, or talk to their employee without the customer hearing.

Your choice of phone system can facilitate more efficient teamwork, cut down on games of “telephone tag” when employees need to get in touch with one another, and help to provide training and support for employees who take customer calls.

It’s clear that your choice of phone system can make a big impact on how you run your business and how you connect with your customers.

By choosing a system with features that you know you can make good use of, your team will able to work together more effectively, and your customers will enjoy better customer service.

That means a business that runs more smoothly, and happy customers who will return to do business with you again.

Photo credit: Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

About the Author: Tristan Anwyn writes on a wide variety of topics, including branding, inbound marketing, business telephone systems and how to use social media to drive sales.

Time for a Move to Boost Your Career?

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As the U.S. economy continues to gain momentum, rising employer confidence has led to stronger employment gains.

The job market performed exceedingly well in 2014, and it is not expected to let up this year.

Some cities are projected to experience faster job growth than others, and they are becoming increasingly popular destinations among job seekers.

If you are looking for a job, it is recommended that you give these cities a try:

U.S. Employment Outlook for 2015

According to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor, more than 2.95 million jobs were created last year, making 2014 the strongest year for job growth since 1999.

Unemployment rate slipped to 5.6 percent in December, which was significantly lower than the 6.7-percent rate recorded a year before.

This year, economists are expecting employers to become more bullish on employment, resulting in average monthly job gains of 250,000 to 300,000.

Some of the industries that will be seeing significant job growth in 2015 include the restaurant, retail, healthcare, finance and construction industries.

As mentioned in an article entitled “$800 Million Springfield Resort Casino to Create 2,000 Temporary Jobs“, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that the U.S. construction industry will add about 30,000 jobs this spring.

Top 5 Cities for Job Seekers

In a recent survey, Manpower Group asked 18,000 employers from 100 metropolitan statistical areas about their hiring plans for the first quarter of 2015.

Below are the top five cities for jobs in 2015, according to the survey.

Cape Coral, Florida

About 32 percent of employers in Cape Coral, Florida said that they will be stepping up their recruitment efforts. The city is known as one of the top cities for startup businesses, and it is experiencing rapid job growth because of its booming tourism and hospitality industries.

McAllen, Texas

Located at the U.S.-Mexico border, McAllen is home to major facilities belonging to big corporations such as General Electric and Nokia, thanks to the U.S.-Mexico tariff-free trade agreements. These corporations and other employers are fueling job growth in the city, with 29 percent of them projecting an increase in employment.

Deltona, Florida

Deltona ranked joint-third on the list with Grand Rapids, Michigan, with 26 percent of employers planning to hire. This city is producing many new jobs in the hospitality and professional services industries.

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Grand Rapids, Michigan is a hub for auto and aviation manufacturers, as well as office-furniture manufacturers such as Herman Miller. About 26 percent of employers in the city are expecting to hire more workers.

Oxnard, California

Oxnard, California is home to a major port between San Francisco and Los Angeles, and therefore, it is a city that is driven by international trade. 24 percent of employers from this city indicated that they will increase hiring.

Your ability to land a good job depends mainly on your work experience, academic qualifications and skills.

However, you can increase your chances of success by targeting potential employers that are located in a city with a high job-growth rate.

About the Author: John McMalcolm is a freelance writer who writes on a wide range of subjects, from social media marketing to careers.

Engineer a Better Company Culture

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Company culture has a big impact on how your company runs, who works for you and even who stays with you.

Your company culture should reflect your company’s beliefs, its mission and even its employees.

Think about it, those who work for you, represent you and your company. You want the company culture to do the same.

So when you are hiring, do you try to match your employees to your culture? Do you consistently try to improve the culture of your business, to make it more efficient, more magnanimous, and more financially successful?

Often, those finding their spot in the corporate world consider corporate culture during the job hunt.

Remember, the people you are interviewing are interviewing you as well. They want to work somewhere that reflects them, their values, and their goals.

Are You Employees Truly Happy?

The happier someone can be at work, the more successful they can be as well.

Whether you are hiring engineers, writers, attorneys, you name it – they are all looking for a positive work environment and for many, corporate culture can be a deciding factor.

As the following article looks at, let’s stick with our engineer example and think about why many top engineers choose company culture over big names.

And remember, it’s not just engineers, but many potential hires who have a lot to offer.

Look at factors like:

  • Pride – You want to create a company culture where your employees take pride in what they do. The more pride and value they have in their work, they harder they’ll work. As an employer, show they are valued.
  • Trust – It’s important for your employees to be in a trusting environment. Here they can feel free to share ideas without feeling threatened. The more ideas consistently flowing, the more successful ones you’ll have out there. Engineers, like any other employees, need a trusting place to work and have their best foot forward at all times.
  • A place to be themselves – Perhaps your engineers don’t want to have to wear the business attire that your sales people wear. Maybe their hours could be a little more flexible. If your culture allows them to be themselves and not try to emulate everyone else there, they can be more successful.
  • Build on what works, let go of what doesn’t – Some things you do are going to be great and your employees will thrive. Others won’t. If you find your culture is more successful and employees happier with less mandatory meetings, let some of the meetings go. If it works for you to have team-building events and you see more success and productivity flowing afterwards, go for it.

You will find that what your company stands for will be reflected in your culture.

It should come naturally because you can’t turn something into what it’s not. If your company’s culture does reflect its values and mission, great hires who fit right in will be drawn to you.

Think about the saying, “If you build it they will come.”

That applies not only to baseball fields, but company culture, too.

In fact, sometimes company culture can even trump those big name guys.

About the Author: Heather Legg is an independent writer who covers topics related to small business, social media and working from home.

Don’t Turn a Simple Disagreement into a Social Nightmare

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How much time as a business owner do you spend on social media?

That is a question that oftentimes will elicit a variety of answers. Some spend a sizable amount of time using social networking to promote their brands; others use it sparingly or even not at all.

No matter which camp you end up in, it is important to properly use social media when the time comes. Yes, if you have not been using social media to give your business some publicity, consider this task long overdue.

Come Down on the Side of Caution

When it comes to properly using social media for work, there are several important factors which come into play, most notably being professional.

Sure, one or more visitors to your social page or pages may get under your skin from time to time, but you must always remain in control. If you slip up and start engaging them in a volatile verbal disagreement, you run the risk of damaging not only your brand, but also your own reputation as a business owner.

With that in mind, here are some tips to avoid the down side of consumer interactions:

  1. Take the high road – When one or more people are verbally attacking you and/or your brand on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or other such sites, down go negative on them. Try in a simple and direct response to remedy the problem. If that does not work, look to take the issue private. The more people who see you battling online with one or more individuals, the more people who are likely to gain a negative view of you and/or your brand;
  2. Solve the problem – In some cases, the issue might be something as simple as bad customer service etc. A matter like that is something which generally can be overcome by offering an incentive for the individual to want to continue doing business with you. If it is a sales matter and they want to work with another customer service rep, take that under consideration. Maybe they simply did not like the product or service they received and figured going social about it was a way to vent. Offer them a replacement product or service at no extra charge. Simple actions like these can oftentimes be the answer to the problem;
  3. Be timely – Finally, it is always important that you respond to any and all consumer inquiries in a timely manner. With millions and millions of people using social media on a daily basis, it can seem a little overwhelming at times to stay abreast of all that is occurring. Still, delayed responses spell nothing generally but trouble. If you don’t have the time personally to respond to the inquiries, make sure you dedicate someone on your team or even outsource your social media needs.

When you offer consumers a social media campaign large on responsiveness and short on confrontation and delay you and your brand stand to benefit from it.

As a business owner or marketer, how do you make sure your social media campaigns are working to bring out the best in you and your brand?

About the Author: Miguel Salcido has been a professional search marketing consultant for over 11 years. He is the founder and CEO of Organic Media Group, a content driven SEO agency. He also likes to blog atOrganicSEOConsultant.com and share insights into advanced SEO.