This work reminds me every time I see it of what delight can be provided by a combination of creative imagination and skill with materials. When you look at the pieces in this composition up close, they are basically a set of bent and twisted square metal rods with a small flat metal piece bolted on at the tip of each. When you stand back and allow your imagination to take over, they are birds. Magic!
What magic are you creating, or seeing, today?.
Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,
I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.
They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.
I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.
Should anyone question this SOB button’s validity, send him or her to me. Thie award carries a “Liz said so” guarantee, is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and is backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.
If you’re an SO-Wanna-B, you can see the whole list of SOBs and learn how to be one by visiting the SOB Hall of Fame– A-Z Directory . Click the link or visit the What IS an SOB?! page in the sidebar.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Last year, I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with distinction and a 3.8 GPA. As a marketing major, I was always told that there were âtons of jobs out there for meâ and that employers were âlooking for my set of skillsâ so I wasnât very concerned about the job hunt ahead of me.
I started looking for a job during my final semester, and when no offers for interviews came I figured it was because I wasnât available yet and I would have to graduate first.
After graduation, I moved to a larger city and started to focus solely on my job hunt. I would apply for 10 to 15 jobs each day, but many came back with a rejection email because I didnât quite fit the skill set needed. Most of my applications went without a response at all. I started to feel discouraged after a few weeks thinking that I wouldnât be able to find employment. After all, the unemployment rate is rising, and I had much less experience than others in my field.
After a while, I finally got my first interview request. I was completely myself and felt comfortable during the first round, which resulted in a request for a second interview. However, I got nervous during that second interview and got a rejection email the next day.
In my second job interview, I decided not to let anything keep me from being myself. I got through both rounds of interviews with flying colors and was offered the job. However, the hours were long, the pay was low, and I would be knocking on doors selling a product. While those qualities may have been alright for someone else, I wanted something a little different. After careful consideration, I turned down that job.
On my way to my third interview, I was already planning on where I would drop off more resumes on my way home. I knew very little about the company and it was impossible to find their website online. But I knew as soon as I walked in the door that this was the place for me. This place had flexible hours, good pay, great atmosphere, and wonderful people to work with.The interview lasted five minutes and I knew I would accept any job they offered me. Turns out, third time is the charm.
After my three month long job search, I feel that I have grown a little wiser. The job hunt is frustrating for anyone, whether they are just coming out of college or in the middle of their career. Along the way, these are the points I have found that may help you find your perfect job.
Donât forget to visit the actual websites of companies where you think you would like to work. Some of them may not be using a website like Career Builder or Monster.com, and some smaller companies may be using Craigslist because it is less expensive. Also, look in places you may not have thought of at first. Hand in resumes to businesses around your home. Actually giving them the resume in person will probably make you more memorable to the person hiring for the company.
What tricks do you have for finding a job after college?
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Author’s Bio:
Amy Gardner writes financial topics including small business credit cards. Amy welcomes your comments.
Thanks, Rachel. Even the seasoned pros at home need reminders like these!
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!
There comes a time for every small business to, with some great webhosting, build a brand online and focus their efforts on gaining a stronger consumer basis throughout the Internet. Many entrepreneurs prefer using traditional offline brand building to gain consumer spending, but find it difficult to connect with younger generations without the aid of technology. The target demographic will usually encourage a business to focus their efforts with either online or traditional brand marketing. However, a business entity will always focus these pursuits with the primary goal of greatly improving its revenue.
Within an industry, there are few cases where a company does not have to compete with an overwhelming number of national competitors. Even in small communities, consumers have the ability to order products directly through the Internet to obtain goods that could have been bought in local stores. When a business is forced to realize its anonymity within its market, it is up to the business owners to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack to secure a particular niche with consumers.
Larger businesses with well known brands can charge more for the same product while offering fewer overall goods to their customers. This is due primarily to the marketing of their brand to be synonymous in the minds of their consumers with the product or service they sell. For instance, when you add up the price of the physical components in a large company, it will still be significantly less than the amount it would sell for due to its brand name being sold with it. This virtual commodity often has a higher price than any other individual aspect of an entire firm.
Products that are intended to be used by the younger generation or consumers who use Internet access for their work will need their brand to be marketed throughout the Internet. When a company chooses to build a brand online, they have the advantage of generating a large consumer base that will only increase through time. Unlike traditional offline brand building, Internet use is becoming a universal tool that is taught to most children throughout the nation and not much is needed to get online.
Cheap web hosting is often sufficient. Once you got this youâre ready to get started with setting your online presence up. And remember that older generations will decrease over time and the traditional brands are expected to go with them if they do not revitalize their images. This can be seen by many established names trying to build a brand online to prevent the inevitable switch from damaging their profits.
Companies that offer products oriented to consumers who more frequently use television and printed materials for their information can gain more through traditional offline brand building. This marketing is quite popular currently due to the aging baby boomer population that is less integrated in social networks. Since the level of computer illiteracy is on average higher for older generations, it can actually be a wasted effort using online marketing for products that would be bought directly by the consumer.
Since some products can be bought by multiple consumer groups, these items will often require both traditional and online brand marketing. This is true for products and services that are non-age oriented and for age-oriented products that can be given as gifts. It is important to focus each marketing task on the specific consumers who would be reached through media and online sources. For instance, when older generations look for a particular luxury service, they want to see a diligent staff that is both polite and friendly. For this same luxury service, younger generations will be more interested in the accommodations and the comparative price. Creating a brand that fills both of these needs can be done when each demographic is reached with the portrayal they desire.
Online brand marketing will often be through social networks and other informational sites that directly market to the consumer. The most effective form of designing a brand online has been to involve the consumer into the companyâs daily operations. This often requires forum moderation after the marketing is over and special content that is designed to make these consumers feel included. Social chats with head officials to reassure consumer groups have proven to be effective. Corporate paraphernalia, including T-shirts, hats, and other trinkets can be displayed on site shops for dedicated consumer groups to show their brand loyalty.
Traditional brand creation will focus on telling consumers why your company is unique. This has the disadvantage of being a one-way conversation and relies on the trust consumers will place in your promises. Orienting the appearance of your company to the desired viewpoint of your consumers will lead to a higher reception. Since the general consumer will need only a positive psychological improvement to buy your products, traditional brands will often give the illusion of superior quality. For instance, focusing on a particular detail that is different from other competitors in a positive light can build a brand with targeted audiences. This does not even require the detail to be important or affect the performance of your product. It is simply something that makes your brand unique.
No matter the path you take with the marketing of your brand, it is important to remember that the revenue for your products and services will increase dramatically with a successful campaign (and donât forget that a lot visitors/customers require strong hosting solutions, such as for example dedicated server hosting â otherwise your successful campaigns will be in vain). Before you branded your company, the costs were only in the material and labor that was incorporated into the product. Afterwards, you can take into account the worth of your brand and increase the prices to meet this improvement in the psychological satisfaction gained by your consumers.
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Author’s Bio: The article is from Jason Nash from webhostingsearch.com Jason writes
about technology, social media and online marketing strategies and
follows brands online and off as part of his work.
Thank you, Jason!
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!
According to a report released Oct. 5, from Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP), U.S. companies brought on more workers in September than the previous month, however the number was not enough to put a dent in the large unemployment numbers nationwide.
While the ADP report brought some encouraging news, two separate reports unveiled the same day noted that layoffs increased rather dramatically last month, while service companies are not hiring additional employees despite the sectorâs relatively stable growth.
Looking back at the brighter report, ADP and Macroeconomic Advisers LLC report that private-sector employers added 91,000 positions in September, an increase of some 2,000 jobs from the previous month. The governmentâs official jobs report is slated to be released on Oct. 7.
Is Minimal Growth Better than None at All?
While the news is somewhat encouraging in that the country appears at this point to be dodging another recession, the recent report also demonstrates that growth is coming in very minimal numbers at best, providing us with weak growth at best.
While everyone is looking for any signs of growth, we shouldn’t be deceived by the numbers.
Much like when gas prices are inflated to high levels, drivers think theyâre getting a deal when they pay less for gas, the bottom line being it is still $1 or $2 above what they paid the year before. Improvement, but much better is possible.
As for expanding on the down side, a report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas points out there were sharp increases in layoff announcements for September, with businesses planning to cut some 116,000 jobs, more than double the August report and the worst in more than two years. The biggest cuts came among the government and financial sectors.
What is Your Business Doing to Grow?
With the recent numbers showing a mixed bag, has your company been impacted either positively or negatively when it comes to job growth lately?
For many companies, especially smaller businesses, growth has been hard when you throw in the added costs for health care that many employers have been dealing with. While the government has tried to throw some incentives in the direction of small business owners, a fair number of them have either stood pat on hiring or even laid off where they felt it necessary.
If your small business is contemplating hiring, do you plan on? –
Lots of questions still remain for many small businesses, many of whom are playing the waiting game.
Photo credit: gaebler.com
Dave Thomas, who has authored a number of articles regarding business phone service writes extensively for www.business.com an online resource destination for businesses of all sizes to research, find, and compare the products and services they need to run their businesses.
During the Q&A of his interview at SOBCon NW, I asked Rick Turoczy (@Toruczy) of the Portland Incubator Experiment, “What seems to be the single problem that most startups encounter?”
Rick’s response was telling. He said that the young companies he worked with were clear on their vision and their mission. They knew were they were going … Where they got stuck was figuring out the first small step to get there.
Are you surprised by that? I’m not.
The act of paying attention to what relates to our mission and vision gets us attuned to the wide range of options that could relate to our end goal.
We think of our goal as THEN.
THEN we’ll be there.
THEN we’ll have what we’ve earned.
THEN we’ll know.
We can’t know what things will be THEN, but we know all we need to know about now.
But strategy is a function of NOW.
What is our position NOW?
What are the conditions NOW?
What is the opportunity NOW?
Choosing that next step often seems a problem. We listen. We follow links through our networks and systems. If our minds and hearts are open, we find a world filled with possibilities. We pay attention to learn as much as we might. We gather up information, ideas, and options. Then comes the moment to move. We get stuck in too many possibilities. Big ones, little ones — which to do?
To head in our best direction, we have to do the opposite of listening and paying attention. NOW that we’ve gathered the immediate information, it’s time to pull it in. It’s time to narrow and focus. It’s time to choose the best possible easy move to advance now. The small opportunity that fits us most naturally is the one that easiest, fastest, and most meaningful to reaching our biggest, most important goal.
Here’s how to choose the easiest, fastest, and most meaningful next move:
Look for the position adjacent to the one where you’re standing. The best new positions look only slightly different than the position where we are right now. By moving into that slightly new position — serving the closest friends of our customers or adding a new flavor to the same offer — we built strength on what we already own. By keeping an eye on our vision at the same time as we make these tiny moves, we not only keep focus, but also bring our community of customers with us in a logical, predictable fashion that is easy to invest in, because it’s easy to trust.
Each small decision creates new opportunities that are unique to our position and the skills we bring. In that way, we create a path that is ours and impossible to replicate with authenticity.
We do what we are rather than are what we do.
How do you filter and narrow your options when you choose your next move?
Be irresistible.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!