5 Keys to Finding a Job

I have talked to several people over the past few months that are in the unfortunate position of job searching. I am fortunate enough to be an entrepreneur and own my own business, so I don't have to worry about layoffs, cutbacks, or "fat trimming". I do know that if I was looking for work, I would apply to 5 Keys below. One thing I have noticed is that there are tons of jobs out there, but people just aren't looking hard enough and aren't looking in the right places. My degree (or piece of paper) says that I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Commerce & Business Administration from the University of Alabama. More specifically, small company management. However, like I stated above, it's just a piece of paper. Going back to school for higher education is great and grand, but if you think that it's going to magically get you a high paying job, you are wrong. Job searching to me is about getting connected. Instead of thumbing the Classified ads or searching the internet for companies who are hiring, get out and meet people. Let the people in your networking contact sphere know you are looking. A personal introduction to someone is a lot better than calling and asking if you can drop a resume off and then hoping for an interview. I know people who have gotten jobs at companies that aren't even hiring, but the company was so impressed with the person and had a personal recommendation from a friend, that they gave them a chance. Once you're in the door, blow them away. Be self educated. Teach yourself new skills.

5 Keys to Finding a Job

1. Don't do the basic bulleted resume. That's boring and gets lost in the pile of others. A good friend of mine owns a company that does Video Resume's. His clients really stand out when they send a video resume before the interview instead of the basic Word document or fax cover sheet. Check him out: My OVR

2. Go to every networking event in your area. Attend local BNI meetings. Get connected with people and let them know you are looking. Don't be afraid to ask people to help you. If you have 20 people who trust you and are willing to drop your name, you'll be much more likely to land something big.

3. Get some part-time work. As much as it sucks, if you are in between jobs, go get a part-time job at Lowe's, Home Depot, Best Buy, etc. The company you are interviewing with will respect the fact that you are proactive and continuing to work while looking for more "permanent" work. Plus it helps pay the bills while you are in transition.

4. Self Educate. Read books, lots of them. I love anything on entrepreneurship, marketing, and networking. Whatever your interests are of the field you are trying to get into, learn more about it. Read trade magazines and journals about that industry so you are up to date with trends and news.

5. Don't participate in the negativity or the recession. Just because the news and everyone around you says the economy sucks and the world is coming to an end doesn't mean it's true. Always have a positive attitude and be proactive and you'll rise to the top.

BNI

I've been a member of Magic City BNI in Birmingham, AL for close to 4 years now. It is without a doubt one of the greatest advertising and marketing tools for my business. If you aren't familiar with BNI, its an international networking group (stands for: Business Network International) and there are chapters all over the world that meet on a weekly basis. There is only one person per industry allowed in each group, and the motto is "Givers Gain". The idea is that if you have a Chapter with 30 members, each week when you meet you tell them what you are looking for in terms of a referral and you have 29 sales reps that go out and help you drum up business. The more specific the better. One time I asked for a specific name at a large company I was trying to get a meeting with, and someone in our group was good friends with them. Now if I had just asked to the marketing director at that company, I probably wouldn't have gotten the referral since the company name and title wouldn't have clicked in their head, but when I mentioned the name, it clicked immediately. Here's a fun clip of a guy that made a song out of his 60-second, and it's pretty catchy. If you aren't currently a member of a BNI Chapter in your area, I would encourage you to find a few and go visit. What do you have to lose??

Desperation Isn't Referable

Nurture an abundance mentality instead of a scarcity mentality and you can have an unlimited supply of referrals.

There's truly an unlimited supply of referrals. This may surprise you because most people who're new to referral marketing or who've had trouble getting referrals tend to think they're in for a struggle to gain access to a limited supply of good referrals. This mind-set is known as the "scarcity mentality," and those who have it often appear desperate to obtain business, which is not a good way to present yourself when you're trying to sell your products or services. Desperation is not referable.

It's true that you must compete for business, even within a referral-networking group. You may come in to such a group thinking all the other members will automatically refer all their business to you. What you have to realize, though, is that joining a referral group doesn't automatically entitle you to referrals--you have to earn them. For starters, you have to work to create relationships where none existed before. Fellow members must get to know you and your work, and be able to trust you to carry out your commitments and provide outstanding and memorable customer service to anyone they might refer you to. They've established relationships of their own, and they don't want to risk those relationships by referring them to someone they don't know.

But having to compete with established relationships doesn't cut you off from potential referrals. Suppose, for example, that you're the new chiropractor in your group and you want to get referrals from other members. You learn that one influential member has a long-established relationship with a chiropractor who's not in the group. Does this obligate the other member to stop doing business with her chiropractor and start doing business with you? Of course not, and if you try to make this happen, you'll quickly gain a reputation as a relationship assassin--not a good image.

If you nurture an abundance mentality rather than a scarcity mentality, you'll realize there's plenty of business out there for you and many other chiropractors. There's also a way you can compete and, at the same time, collaborate with another vendor.

First, you know the other member likes chiropractic. This is a point in your favor because it means there's a strong chance that she'll advise friends and acquaintances to seek chiropractic help as well--perhaps from you--after she gets to know you better. When you talk with her, ask her what the other chiropractor does that she finds especially effective. Does the practitioner specialize in certain therapies?

Ask to be introduced to her chiropractor. Find out what kinds of cases your competitor likes to tackle. Back problems? Joint pain? Neck problems? Tell your competitor that you prefer to specialize in a different area and offer to refer cases in his chosen specialty to him. Suggest that the two of you could refer overflow patients to each other and help with each others' patients during vacations.

In other words, you can be genuinely helpful to each other and still be competitors. You can help each other build a customized practice with the kind of patients you prefer. Suppose he likes accident claims and you don't. You can begin the process by referring a flood of accident business to him--so much of it, in fact, that he may feel the need to send some of his other patients to you.

Even if the other chiropractor and you specialize in the same areas, you can benefit each other by referrals. His practice may be in a completely different part of town from yours. You can collaborate with him on joint screenings at intermediate sites, such as at natural foods co-ops, and give new prospects a choice of chiropractors. Many will choose on the basis of personal rapport or location.

I recommend Kim George's book Coaching Into Greatness. She writes about how a successful, healthy networking activity is what leads to having an abundance mentality. There's a ton of business out there, she points out, and all it takes to cultivate an abundance mentality is to become an active networker, build relationships and provide benefits for your networking partners. Joining a networking group because you expect it to immediately result in referrals, without any effort on your part, is lazy networking. It produces few or no referrals and leads you to believe that the number of referrals available is limited--the scarcity mentality.

There's also a way to make the flow of referrals predictable and adjustable. You and a referral partner can set up a system in which your partner sends you referrals as you need them--regularly, predictably, on request and on time. Creating such a structured system is like building a pipeline for referrals.

Think about it. What if you knew at all times when your referral partners were going to refer you, whom they were going to refer you to and how they were going to refer you? What if you knew in advance which product or service your next new customer was going to want to buy? You could plan ahead. You could schedule business to come in when you most needed it and were best able to handle it. You could select the kind of customers you wanted. You could project your cash flow and manage your inventory.

Selling with traditional marketing methods is like fishing with dynamite: You light a few sticks, throw them into the water and hope that something comes up. Structured, programmed referral marketing is more like fishing with the latest high-tech gear: You've got a boat that lets you move to where the fish are most likely to be hanging out; you've got sonar that lets you see where the best fish are; and you can say, "Forget those carp over here in the shallows. I'm going to catch those 30 big brown trout down at 18 feet."

How do you build such a structured, predictable referral system? First, you have to establish a close, mutually rewarding relationship of trust with your referral partner. In our program at the Referral Institute, we've found the best approach is to start off with some relationship-building activities to get to know each other better based on your behavioral styles and other factors. Next, determine how many and what kind of referrals you'll need each week to accomplish your financial sales goal. Then, one by one, you and your counterpart discuss the people in each others' databases and identify those you'd particularly like to contact. Once this is finished, you can decide when, where, and under what circumstances you'd like to meet each contact, and if your referral partner agrees, that contact goes into the pipeline. After contact is made, the results are evaluated and shared with your referral partner. It's about as detailed as you can get with a target market, and the timing couldn't be more precise.

The kind of proactive referral system we're talking about here is not intended for use with everyone you know. It's designed for key relationships you've already formed--that is, relationships of trust, in which you and your partner know each other well, along with the level of service each of you provides. The predictability comes from knowing that your partner is a trustworthy and skilled networker who can be relied upon to provide a steady stream of high-quality referrals.

Called "The Father of Modern Networking" by CNN, Ivan Misner, Ph.D., is a New York Times bestselling author. He is the Founder & Chairman of BNI, the world's largest business networking organization. His latest #1 bestseller, The 29% Solution, can be viewed at www.29PercentSolution.com.com. Dr. Misner is also the Senior Partner for the Referral Institute, an international referral training company. He can be reached at misner@bni.com.

Marketing Your Business for FREE!

Okay, I have a little secret. It actually is not a secret to most, but some just don't get it. In an economy like we are in right now, (a very crappy one), you need to continue to market your business. I hear so many companies tell me that they are cutting back their marketing and their budgets are shrinking, and blah blah blah. It isn't always about spending money. If you don't read anything else, read this:

BE PROACTIVE IN THE MARKETING OF YOUR BUSINESS RIGHT NOW

This is not just me trying to sell more imprinted pens and t-shirts. I think the most important thing right now is to continue to be proactive. History has shown that market share is gained the most in a down economy by those who continue to work hard and market their business.
One thing that I have found that has worked great for me and my business has been networking. Now don't get me wrong, I've been networking since I started my business 4 years ago. But here lately, I have really seen a big boom in people who traditionally weren't into networking getting involved. Here's what you can do, and it doesn't cost anything...or if it does cost its very minimal:
-Become active in your local Chamber (go the the luncheons, after hours events, before hours events, become an Ambassador, volunteer)
-Join a local BNI (Business Networking International)...now this is a little more of an investment in terms of time and money than your local Chamber, but as a BNI member of 4 years, I can promise this group works, and there are chapters all over the world.
-Forget trying to sell your products and services...Help others

You're probably thinking..WHAT? How am I supposed to make money if I don't try to push my product? Well, let me tell you, if you forget about yourself for a second and focus on others, it will come back to you in the end. Zig Ziglar said it best, "You can have anything in the world you want if you’ll just help enough other people get what they want."

Make it your goal to go to networking events and truly engage others and make lasting relationships. Talk to 3 or 4 people and make a point to follow up after the event with an invite to lunch or coffee. Get to know them. Find out what makes them tick, what a good referral for them is, how you can help their business, etc. If you help them grow their business, they are going to turn right around and do whatever it takes to help you grow yours. Simple enough, and it's free. Good luck and happy networking.