Working in the construction industry is a competitive landscape but can also be a rewarding career. It’s up to you to win over new clients and build a book of customers who will use and recommend your services.
As a contractor, your reputation matters and the word will spread quickly about whether or not you know how to do your job. It’s up to you to impress clients and produce quality work, so know there will be a lot of pressure on your shoulders on any given day. Use the following advice to help you build a reputable and successful contractor business, so your company is around for years to come.
Present Ideas & Solutions
As the contractor, it’s your job to come to client meetings prepared to share your knowledge and expertise. Offer up ideas and solutions that your customers will find useful and will help them to achieve their project goals. For example, incorporate the advancements in technology such as https://www.sgspecialties.com/products/contractor-solutions/expansion-joints to help protect and prevent the buildings you create from experiencing any fire or earthquake damages. These are solutions that your customers may not be aware of, and that will help you to construct a better building.
Collect Testimonials
You need to have a solid reputation if you’re going to make it long-term in the construction business. Therefore, collect testimonials from your customers so that others can see the benefits of working with you. People who are interested in hiring you will want to hear what you’re like to work with from other clients and not necessarily from you. The better reviews you have, the more likely it is that you’ll begin to receive more work orders. Use these testimonials as a marketing tool to show potential customers that you’re the best person for the job.
Be Responsive
Although you’re in the business of building and constructing, you’re also in the business of working with people. Your clients should be your number one priority, and you should do whatever’s in your power to keep them happy if you want to succeed. Improve your reputation by being personable and friendly in your interactions and responsive to questions or inquiries that arise. Disappearing for days at a time or not being available to address concerns will make you look bad, and your reputation may take a hit for your actions.
Perfect Your Skill
Another way to build a reputable contractor business is to let your work speak for itself. Perfect your skill by learning from others and your mistakes. Use your free time to practice in areas that are giving you trouble or to take a class and advance your education. You’re going to want to make sure you know what you’re doing and can produce results worth talking about for your customers. If you’re continuously committing errors or not delivering on your promise, then you risk people going elsewhere for these types of services. Be organized and avoid cutting corners or having hidden fees if you want to build an excellent reputation for yourself and your business.
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You are about to graduate with that coveted engineering degree. It’s the ticket you were told would land you a high-paying position in that big (or rising) tech firm you’ve had your eye on. Yes, the economy appears to be humming along with many companies eager to hire. But before you prepare your resume and cover letter, there are several things you need to do to make yourself more attractive to today’s CEOs and the people that they trust to make the best hires for them.
Here are six helpful tips that will be a sure way to catch that employer’s attention:
Clean Up and Polish Your Social Media
A recent Harvard Business Review article noted that many recruitment subcontractors scour LinkedIn and other social media to find potential candidates. They’ll trace your “digital exhaust” from cookies and other user-tracking programs to learn who you are. So, ditch those college party photos you have on Instagram, Facebook, etc. Replace them with photos or videos of you working hard at that tech firm you interned with during the summer. Don’t have any intern photos? Plug in some pics of tech projects you worked on in your garage or senior lab. Use photos of you attending tech seminars and symposiums – preferably those attended by that tech firm you want to join.
It also doesn’t hurt to add a professional bio to your social media account(s). And replace college handles and URLs with those that make you look more professional. Create a brand that sets you apart – post, share, or re-tweet anything related to the industry you’re eager to enter. Follow blogs, news sources, and any other websites that represent thought leaders in the tech field you want to work in.
Network like Mad
Referrals and professional networks are 1st and 3rd in order of what CEOs consider sources of quality. People in the tech industry know that you’re young, hungry and need advice. And many are all too willing to share what they know. They remember what it was like when they tried to break in. So go to every trade show, conference seminar, and networking event you can get into. Talk to people in booths and after seminars. Ask what you can do to get into their apprenticeship, internship or mentor program.
Print out 500 “job seeker” business cards with your name, major and the job you’re looking for. Include your contact info and website if you have one. Hand these out to people you meet at trade shows, tech conferences, and seminars. They may not have an opening, but word gets around about your unique approach. And someone may just call you.
Another tactic is to attend any social/community outreach programs which the firm you’re interested in may be sponsoring. Talk to the people there and ask if you can help. People are more open at these events and the conversation tends to be more relaxed. It also builds your reputation as a caring individual; the kind that other employees like to be around. Who knows, you may end up serving food to the homeless next to the firm’s CEO. (if that happens, ditch the hard sell, but answer any questions—just make sure they remember your name. Write your last name out clearly on your “Hello, my name is” tag.)
Sell Yourself in the Cover Letter
The letter is a key element in any job search. It paints a picture that CEOs, recruiters, and hiring managers will create in their minds about the kind of person you are. Like your resume, your letter should dovetail with the firm’s needs and requirements. If you met an engineer or other tech staff member from that company at a seminar, conference or other event, namedrop that in your letter. ‘Beta test’ your letter with a career counselor or someone you know in the industry. And keep it short, no more than a page – single-spaced.
Fine Tune Your Resume
If you’re an astute tech grad, you should know how to write a resume. There are all sorts of resume writing tips and templates online. The important thing to remember is to fine-tune your resume to the needs of the tech company you’re eager to join. That means including any internships and mentor programs you’ve completed. Don’t forget to stress any senior-level projects that align with the company’s product or service.
And don’t ‘fudge’ your background—many university career counselors advise students not to be as forthcoming with their qualifications or remove entire degrees if the job posting doesn’t call for it. While this may get you the interview, it will bring up more questions that will put off hiring managers when they ask you for details during the interview.
As with your cover letter, beta test it with guidance counselors and any pros you know in the industry. You can also get a free resume evaluation at Monster’s Resume Writing Service. You’ll get detailed feedback, including a review of your resume’s appearance and content, as well as a prediction of a recruiter’s first impression.
Make Your Resume Bot Friendly
It’s a regrettable fact that many recruiters, HR managers, and other gatekeepers use applicant-tracking systems (ATS) to pre-filter resumes. These bots look for keywords and key phrases. So include verb phrases and skills written in the firm’s job description. Use both the acronym and the spelled-out form of any given title, certification, or organization. And dump the ‘career objective’ section. Bots ignore this and so do most gatekeepers. Replace it with a qualifications summary – a bullet-pointed section packed with ATS-friendly keywords that highlight your achievements, applicable skills, and internships. Use spell check and grammar-check programs to wipe your resume (and cover letter) of any mistakes.
Ace the Interview
You made the shortlist and got a face-to-face interview. At this point, the job is yours to lose. So learn all you can about the company. Scour the firm’s website. Commit to memory the company’s key current events found in the ‘news’ section. If you met any company employees at a seminar, trade show or other function, be prepared to talk about your conversation(s) you had with them.
If you don’t know the answer to a tough technical question, own up sooner rather than later. It’s much better to admit temporary ignorance than fake your way in front of a potential expert. And do ask questions. If you don’t ask anything at the end of an interview, it shows a lack of interest in the company and what your typical workday might be like.
Know your resume like the back of your hand. Be prepared to discuss how your skills and talents align with the needs of the company. By the way, you should already be familiar with the basics of interviewing – firm handshake, smile, good eye contact, and dressing a step up from the person you meet. Check out a few videos on body language as well. And do follow up promptly after the interview with a thank you email – that’s one more chance to stand out among the other in-person interviewees.
You will want to start working on these steps well before you graduate so that when that graduation ceremony comes up and you get your cap and gown, you are well on your way to landing your first dream job.
About the Author
Dr. Radu Reit is the Vice-Chair of the Marketing Committee at the Society for Information Display (SID). Display Week 2020 will be held June 7-12, 2020, in San Francisco. For more information, visit www.displayweek.org.
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It seems to happen to the best of us. You devote hours and hours of time to writing a great piece of content that you just know is going to drive hordes of people to your website. Of those hordes of people, hopefully, a few will become customers. For some reason, however, it doesn’t work. Very few people read it and those who do aren’t engaging with you or your business. You’re left wondering what happened and what you could have done better.
Often the problem lies in a disconnect between the content creator and their audience. If a piece of content fails to pick up traction, it’s usually because it doesn’t fit what the audience was searching for. Content marketing towards your target audience is an essential piece of the puzzle. Before you can effectively deliver your message, you need to understand who you are marketing it to and why.
Understanding your target audience is complicated and involves more than one step. Here are some ways to achieve content marketing success by targeting the right audience.
Conduct Market Research
The fact of the matter is if you want to know who your target audience is, you’ve got to do the research. Both SEO and content marketing demand research to be successful. It doesn’t matter if you’re looking up keyword strategies or choosing topics for long-form content, you have to begin by researching what topics people want to know about.
Thankfully, you don’t have to just guess. There are several tools available that can help you find out what topics are trending and how to rank long tail keywords. Audience Key, for example, allows you to optimize content, quantify search audience, map your keyword strategy, and much more. You can find data and analytics that will help you know what’s working and get to know your audience.
Sometimes the research may take just as long as it does to produce your content – and that’s ok. It’s better to take the time to produce content for your intended audience and see results instead of spending all that time to effectively have the content flop.
Engage Your Readers Using Emotion
In any case, you’re looking for your readers to have an emotional response to what you’re saying. Of course, you want clicks, shares, and conversions. It’s your business after all. None of that follows if you can’t reach your audience on an emotional level, however.
One of the easiest ways to drive engagement on your site and connect with your audience is to ask them questions. You want your audience to share their own feelings and opinions to connect with you. Ask your readers what they want to hear about. You can also end your content with direct questions to get the conversation going in the comments. Additionally, ask their opinions on your recommended products and services. Encourage conversation, questions, and healthy debates.
Reconnect With Your Audience
If you are having trouble engaging your audience, try starting over again. You’ll need to get a good understanding of your audience. This includes:
Find out what your audience is passionate about, and write content for them.
Connect with your readers on an emotional level to build a community. Encourage conversation and questions.
Research the market demographics of your audience thoroughly.
Remember to include a call to action when you want your audience to do something. Often, people simply need to be told what you’d like them to do.
It’s easy to see how these guidelines can help increase the amount of engagement your content receives, as well as sales and conversions. When it comes to content marketing, it doesn’t have to be a mystery.
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Continuing with your education can lead to a more thriving career and financial security. While job experience plays a vital role in the job market, furthering your education gives you better opportunities to advance your career and lead a more comfortable lifestyle. Apart from having a high school diploma, it would help if you had a college degree and skills development to secure a good-paying job.
Nowadays, thanks to accelerated online degrees, you don’t have to waste your valuable time to earn an extra degree or diploma. Many online courses allow students to cover the same curriculum as traditional colleges but within a shorter period. For example, instead of spending around two years to earn your associate degree from a traditional college setting, you can obtain the same degree from online educators within months. Here are the benefits of education in advancing your career.
Gain Knowledge
A good education can make you more competitive and enhanced. The education you get from online degrees will equip you with the skills you need at your business or workplace. For instance, with a business administration degree, your understanding of various accounting and financial aspects will become much better. And with a mechanical engineering course, you’ll never know what you can achieve in the engineering world.
A management-based program can make you a better leader capable of resolving conflicts at work. In other words, the knowledge you gain is both practical and factual. Furthering your studies broadens your skills and solidifies your experience.
Secures Your Future
Technological advancements have led to more downsizing trends in many companies across the globe. In the spirit of automation and making work easier, every tech-savvy brand wants to reduce human labor. So, if you haven’t positioned yourself strategically, you may become a victim of the next downsizing in your workplace.
Getting an online degree is one way of securing your future at the workplace. If it’s inevitable that your employer has to lay off a few people in your department, your degree may save your neck.
Makes Your Life Better
Unfortunately, society is prone to labeling people according to their educational background and financial status. If you want to earn more at your current job or and a more lucrative job opportunity elsewhere, you need to further your education.
A 2014 Pew Research found out that college graduates with degrees earn around $17,000 more than their counterparts with high school diplomas each year. The amount you make may be what is holding your lifestyle back. So, an online degree can earn you more respect, become more confident, and improve your lifestyle.
Boosts Your Soft Skills
Education can help boost your soft skills, such as teamwork, organization skills, management, and critical thinking. You’ll gain subtle ways of creating influential presentations and come up with effective management styles. Established brands are always looking for employees with sharpened skill sets in these areas. Moreover, once you find a way to boost your soft skills, it might become much easier to climb the career ladder.
Enhances Your Work Ethics
Pursuing higher education can pose a huge challenge to young employees in terms of planning or scheduling. It takes a lot of work, determination, and persistence to pursue a degree while doing a full-time job successfully. But, if you succeed, you’ll be able to demonstrate enhanced work ethics to your colleagues and employer at work.
If done right, you can attract the attention of your superiors at work and be rewarded accordingly. Every employer or manager loves working with employees who have the initiative and drive to expand their skills. It’s a sign that such an employee is willing to do something that will benefit the company as it gives the management hopes that you’ll perform better.
Aside from getting a lucrative job opportunity, a good education can improve your overall discipline. The unique skills you acquire from your training will eventually have an impact on your quality of life. The college academic setting is a great environment to help you expand your skills and gain the knowledge that’ll prepare you for a better career opportunity.
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There is a reason why big brands are using referral systems to promote their websites. It works. The best part is it continues to work despite all the search engine algorithm changes that happened. This means that you can expect it to work even in the years to come.
What’s a Referral Program?
Before you proceed to the creation of your referral program, you need to know what it is. A referral program is a system when you allow your customers to promote your brand for you. In doing this, they give you the contact information of their family and friends. But it doesn’t stop there. Their family and friends can also similarly promote your brand.
What Makes a Referral Program So Effective
There are several reasons why referral marketing is more effective than other methods. But it is essential to consider what makes it so successful. Out of all the reasons why you should launch a referral system for your business, here are the top three.
It Leverages Networks
Referral marketing works because it leverages networks. Unlike doing your marketing all by yourself, you allow your customers to help you. In this method, you are not doing all the marketing alone. You have an army of customers who can help you advertise your website.
It Spreads Through the Circle of Trust
When your customers promote your brand, they will do it to the people that they know and trust. This can either be their family and friends. These are people that the customers personally know and trust. Because of this relationship, they are far more likely to act on the recommendation. This is because the referrer is someone that they know, and they trust that he is giving him the right advice.
It Elevates a Brand’s Social Proof
The third reason why referral marketing works is social proof. Since the method works through social networks and personal circles of trust, it can positively affect social evidence. Social proof plays a significant role in sales conversion. When a prospective customer is on the verge of buying, he only needs a slight push in a positive direction. Social proof is that ‘push.’ Positive reviews or simple recommendations can do a lot for your brand. It can help your prospective customers see your brand in the positive light, and this will encourage them to buy from you.
NOTE: Referral marketing is also great for eCommerce. The reason is its impact on cart abandonment. It is one of the keys to stop shopping cart abandonment and increase traffic and sales. This is the reason why referral software is often available for eCommerce platforms. It is quite useful for online stores.
Characteristics of a Winning Referral Program
Ideally, you’ll want a winning referral program. Any business owner can easily create a referral campaign. Even new business owners like Best Drums Set Labs have done this with success. However, you’ll need to implement some practices if you want to get the most out of referral marketing. Here are the characteristics that you’ll need to look for if you’re going to create a successful referral system.
The Program Can Be Easily Found
Your customers must see your referral system. It is useless to create this if it is just buried in your website’s sitemap. The link to the referral page should be prominent. It should be seen on the front page of your website, and your customers should be continuously reminded to advertise the website. You can do this in critical places in your online store. Some of the most common locations for referral program promotion are on the homepage, checkout page, and emails. This will allow you to personally reach out and tell your audience that you have a referral system that they can use to earn rewards.
It Gets Regular Referrals
If you are going to determine the success of a referral system with one factor, that would be the number of regular referrals. This means that references should not only come in when you have just created your referral system. It should also come in regularly. This shows how well you are promoting your referral system and how well your audience is responding to it.
Referrals Have a High Chance of Conversion
Aside from the number of referrals, the quality of references matter as well. This means that you should not only get a ton of referrals for your system. You should also get referrals that have a high chance of converting into sales. You can measure this by dividing the number of transactions with the number of referrals. This will show you the percentage of references that are converting into sales. This is also a useful metric to consider when you want to measure the overall effectiveness of your campaign.
How to Create a Winning Referral Program
A winning referral program is produced with the right processes. You need to ensure that every step in the process is executed well. In this section, you’ll learn the steps that you need to implement to have a winning referral program for your brand.
Start with Your Target Audience
A winning referral program starts with the right reward. How can you know if the prize that you have set is right for your business? That’s simple. You can ask your audience. Many business owners just skip this,.They usually resort to guessing the proper reward. This is a grave mistake, for it often results in a referral program that is ignored by the audience. The best path is to ask the audience about what they like and give it to them. Don’t assume. Always make it a point to ask.
Experiment with Different Rewards
There are times when you will not be able to know the right reward. This is when you have done your part of asking your audience, but they came up with mixed answers. They may have given you some answers, but it is not enough for you to make a decision. So what can you do? That’s simple. You can experiment. This is where you take the suggestions of the audience and experiment with them to see which will be received by your other customers. This is also good for testing the system. Some customers like to say that they prefer a particular reward but will not sign up when it is released. This is the best way to test these suggestions to see if the audience will act on them.
PRO TIP: One way to encourage the audience to sign up is the “rule of x3”. If your customer gave you a suggestion that you should give away a particular reward, always multiply that by three. By adding more rewards, it will also triple your chances of getting more signups. This is a strategy that worked for me, and I think that it can work incredibly well for you as well.
Experiment with Different Rewarding Modes
Every referral system has 3 rewarding modes. These depend on who is rewarded. There is a mode where you choose to pay the referrer. There is another mode where you wish to reward a friend or referral. The best style is to reward both. This is where you give a reward to encourage the referrer to promote the system and pay the friend to help him to sign up. It eliminates all friction, so it is the best mode out of the bunch.
PRO TIP: There are three basic rewarding modes. But you can also create your way. If you are selling a unique product or service, you may want to consider using a different approach. Being creative can help you in promoting referral systems, so don’t be afraid to exercise that here as well.
Create Exclusive Referral Programs for Influencers
One of the best ways to promote your referral system is to ask influencers for help. Influencers are people who have gained a significant amount of followers in their field. They have a substantial amount of followers for a reason. This may be because they are considered experts in the niche, or they have established themselves as idols or inspirations. Because of this, they have a massive impact on their followers’ actions and decisions. This is the reason why influencer marketing is highly effective in promoting referral programs. This is provided that you create an exclusive system for each influencer.
Here is the reason why exclusivity is a must. Every influencer has a unique culture that he conveys. You mustn’t only sell or give away a product or reward. It is also vital that you appeal to that unique culture if you want the influencer method to be successful. You need to communicate with the influencer and look for ways on how you can help his target market. From here, you can select a proper reward for your referral system and create an exclusive referral campaign just for the influencer.
Transform Your Program into a Contest
Another way you can make your referral system more interesting is to transform it into a contest. In a conventional referral system, you ask customers or website visitors to promote your brand. This is where they input the names and contact information of their family and friends. However, this model doesn’t have a sense of urgency in it. It also doesn’t have a competitive factor. If you transform your referral system into a contest, you add that competitive and urgent element into your system. This means that your customers and website visitors will not only sign up because of a reward. They will also sign up because they have a chance to win a high ticket product.
PRO TIP: Did you know that you can combine contests with influencer marketing? If your prize is attractive enough, you can also encourage influencers to participate. On Instagram, a travel company launched a campaign where they give away free travel to 10 countries. The reward was so attractive that it encouraged influencers to sign up as well.
Use Referral Software
If you plan to launch a referral system, be sure to use the software. Referral software will allow you to configure and start your referral system in a few clicks. The best part is that there is always software that is compatible with your platform. There are WooCommerce affiliate plugins, Shopify apps, and Bigcommerce software that you can use. You just need to check the platform of your website and choose a referral system that will work for you.
Measure Your Results
Once you have implemented your referral system, you must know how to measure the results. More than the trends in your referral software, you should also link your website with an analytics app. This will help you see and track the incoming traffic and compare it with the numbers of referrals and sales that you are getting. Ultimately, you should measure the percentage of your website traffic that converts into sales, subscribers, and referrers. This will give you an overview of the success of your referral system.
Will Referral Marketing Work For You?
It is easy to become doubtful that referral marketing will work for you. However, you will not be able to see if it is sufficient until you try it. Referral marketing is one of the few methods that can work even for brand new websites. Unicorn brands have used them when they are just launching their products and services. PayPal has used it to get its initial members. Uber used it to get more drivers and riders. It is one of the easiest ways to introduce a brand to the public, and it can work for you too.
As you can see, it doesn’t take a lot for a referral campaign to become successful. The steps included in this article are easy to implement. You can quickly launch a referral system with software. This doesn’t require any coding or designing skills on your part. It is a click-and-go system where you can start a referral program by inputting a few details.
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How To Build A Reputable Contractor Business
/in Starting Your Business/by StrategyDrivenWorking in the construction industry is a competitive landscape but can also be a rewarding career. It’s up to you to win over new clients and build a book of customers who will use and recommend your services.
As a contractor, your reputation matters and the word will spread quickly about whether or not you know how to do your job. It’s up to you to impress clients and produce quality work, so know there will be a lot of pressure on your shoulders on any given day. Use the following advice to help you build a reputable and successful contractor business, so your company is around for years to come.
Present Ideas & Solutions
As the contractor, it’s your job to come to client meetings prepared to share your knowledge and expertise. Offer up ideas and solutions that your customers will find useful and will help them to achieve their project goals. For example, incorporate the advancements in technology such as https://www.sgspecialties.com/products/contractor-solutions/expansion-joints to help protect and prevent the buildings you create from experiencing any fire or earthquake damages. These are solutions that your customers may not be aware of, and that will help you to construct a better building.
Collect Testimonials
You need to have a solid reputation if you’re going to make it long-term in the construction business. Therefore, collect testimonials from your customers so that others can see the benefits of working with you. People who are interested in hiring you will want to hear what you’re like to work with from other clients and not necessarily from you. The better reviews you have, the more likely it is that you’ll begin to receive more work orders. Use these testimonials as a marketing tool to show potential customers that you’re the best person for the job.
Be Responsive
Although you’re in the business of building and constructing, you’re also in the business of working with people. Your clients should be your number one priority, and you should do whatever’s in your power to keep them happy if you want to succeed. Improve your reputation by being personable and friendly in your interactions and responsive to questions or inquiries that arise. Disappearing for days at a time or not being available to address concerns will make you look bad, and your reputation may take a hit for your actions.
Perfect Your Skill
Another way to build a reputable contractor business is to let your work speak for itself. Perfect your skill by learning from others and your mistakes. Use your free time to practice in areas that are giving you trouble or to take a class and advance your education. You’re going to want to make sure you know what you’re doing and can produce results worth talking about for your customers. If you’re continuously committing errors or not delivering on your promise, then you risk people going elsewhere for these types of services. Be organized and avoid cutting corners or having hidden fees if you want to build an excellent reputation for yourself and your business.
6 Ways Entry-Level Engineers Can Get an Employer’s Attention
/in Practices for Professionals, Talent Management/by Radu ReitHere are six helpful tips that will be a sure way to catch that employer’s attention:
Clean Up and Polish Your Social Media
A recent Harvard Business Review article noted that many recruitment subcontractors scour LinkedIn and other social media to find potential candidates. They’ll trace your “digital exhaust” from cookies and other user-tracking programs to learn who you are. So, ditch those college party photos you have on Instagram, Facebook, etc. Replace them with photos or videos of you working hard at that tech firm you interned with during the summer. Don’t have any intern photos? Plug in some pics of tech projects you worked on in your garage or senior lab. Use photos of you attending tech seminars and symposiums – preferably those attended by that tech firm you want to join.
It also doesn’t hurt to add a professional bio to your social media account(s). And replace college handles and URLs with those that make you look more professional. Create a brand that sets you apart – post, share, or re-tweet anything related to the industry you’re eager to enter. Follow blogs, news sources, and any other websites that represent thought leaders in the tech field you want to work in.
Network like Mad
Referrals and professional networks are 1st and 3rd in order of what CEOs consider sources of quality. People in the tech industry know that you’re young, hungry and need advice. And many are all too willing to share what they know. They remember what it was like when they tried to break in. So go to every trade show, conference seminar, and networking event you can get into. Talk to people in booths and after seminars. Ask what you can do to get into their apprenticeship, internship or mentor program.
Print out 500 “job seeker” business cards with your name, major and the job you’re looking for. Include your contact info and website if you have one. Hand these out to people you meet at trade shows, tech conferences, and seminars. They may not have an opening, but word gets around about your unique approach. And someone may just call you.
Another tactic is to attend any social/community outreach programs which the firm you’re interested in may be sponsoring. Talk to the people there and ask if you can help. People are more open at these events and the conversation tends to be more relaxed. It also builds your reputation as a caring individual; the kind that other employees like to be around. Who knows, you may end up serving food to the homeless next to the firm’s CEO. (if that happens, ditch the hard sell, but answer any questions—just make sure they remember your name. Write your last name out clearly on your “Hello, my name is” tag.)
Sell Yourself in the Cover Letter
The letter is a key element in any job search. It paints a picture that CEOs, recruiters, and hiring managers will create in their minds about the kind of person you are. Like your resume, your letter should dovetail with the firm’s needs and requirements. If you met an engineer or other tech staff member from that company at a seminar, conference or other event, namedrop that in your letter. ‘Beta test’ your letter with a career counselor or someone you know in the industry. And keep it short, no more than a page – single-spaced.
Fine Tune Your Resume
If you’re an astute tech grad, you should know how to write a resume. There are all sorts of resume writing tips and templates online. The important thing to remember is to fine-tune your resume to the needs of the tech company you’re eager to join. That means including any internships and mentor programs you’ve completed. Don’t forget to stress any senior-level projects that align with the company’s product or service.
And don’t ‘fudge’ your background—many university career counselors advise students not to be as forthcoming with their qualifications or remove entire degrees if the job posting doesn’t call for it. While this may get you the interview, it will bring up more questions that will put off hiring managers when they ask you for details during the interview.
As with your cover letter, beta test it with guidance counselors and any pros you know in the industry. You can also get a free resume evaluation at Monster’s Resume Writing Service. You’ll get detailed feedback, including a review of your resume’s appearance and content, as well as a prediction of a recruiter’s first impression.
Make Your Resume Bot Friendly
It’s a regrettable fact that many recruiters, HR managers, and other gatekeepers use applicant-tracking systems (ATS) to pre-filter resumes. These bots look for keywords and key phrases. So include verb phrases and skills written in the firm’s job description. Use both the acronym and the spelled-out form of any given title, certification, or organization. And dump the ‘career objective’ section. Bots ignore this and so do most gatekeepers. Replace it with a qualifications summary – a bullet-pointed section packed with ATS-friendly keywords that highlight your achievements, applicable skills, and internships. Use spell check and grammar-check programs to wipe your resume (and cover letter) of any mistakes.
Ace the Interview
You made the shortlist and got a face-to-face interview. At this point, the job is yours to lose. So learn all you can about the company. Scour the firm’s website. Commit to memory the company’s key current events found in the ‘news’ section. If you met any company employees at a seminar, trade show or other function, be prepared to talk about your conversation(s) you had with them.
If you don’t know the answer to a tough technical question, own up sooner rather than later. It’s much better to admit temporary ignorance than fake your way in front of a potential expert. And do ask questions. If you don’t ask anything at the end of an interview, it shows a lack of interest in the company and what your typical workday might be like.
Know your resume like the back of your hand. Be prepared to discuss how your skills and talents align with the needs of the company. By the way, you should already be familiar with the basics of interviewing – firm handshake, smile, good eye contact, and dressing a step up from the person you meet. Check out a few videos on body language as well. And do follow up promptly after the interview with a thank you email – that’s one more chance to stand out among the other in-person interviewees.
You will want to start working on these steps well before you graduate so that when that graduation ceremony comes up and you get your cap and gown, you are well on your way to landing your first dream job.
About the Author
Content Marketing Success Through Audience Targeting
/in Marketing & Sales, Online Marketing and Website Development/by StrategyDrivenIt seems to happen to the best of us. You devote hours and hours of time to writing a great piece of content that you just know is going to drive hordes of people to your website. Of those hordes of people, hopefully, a few will become customers. For some reason, however, it doesn’t work. Very few people read it and those who do aren’t engaging with you or your business. You’re left wondering what happened and what you could have done better.
Often the problem lies in a disconnect between the content creator and their audience. If a piece of content fails to pick up traction, it’s usually because it doesn’t fit what the audience was searching for. Content marketing towards your target audience is an essential piece of the puzzle. Before you can effectively deliver your message, you need to understand who you are marketing it to and why.
Understanding your target audience is complicated and involves more than one step. Here are some ways to achieve content marketing success by targeting the right audience.
Conduct Market Research
The fact of the matter is if you want to know who your target audience is, you’ve got to do the research. Both SEO and content marketing demand research to be successful. It doesn’t matter if you’re looking up keyword strategies or choosing topics for long-form content, you have to begin by researching what topics people want to know about.
Thankfully, you don’t have to just guess. There are several tools available that can help you find out what topics are trending and how to rank long tail keywords. Audience Key, for example, allows you to optimize content, quantify search audience, map your keyword strategy, and much more. You can find data and analytics that will help you know what’s working and get to know your audience.
Sometimes the research may take just as long as it does to produce your content – and that’s ok. It’s better to take the time to produce content for your intended audience and see results instead of spending all that time to effectively have the content flop.
Engage Your Readers Using Emotion
In any case, you’re looking for your readers to have an emotional response to what you’re saying. Of course, you want clicks, shares, and conversions. It’s your business after all. None of that follows if you can’t reach your audience on an emotional level, however.
One of the easiest ways to drive engagement on your site and connect with your audience is to ask them questions. You want your audience to share their own feelings and opinions to connect with you. Ask your readers what they want to hear about. You can also end your content with direct questions to get the conversation going in the comments. Additionally, ask their opinions on your recommended products and services. Encourage conversation, questions, and healthy debates.
Reconnect With Your Audience
If you are having trouble engaging your audience, try starting over again. You’ll need to get a good understanding of your audience. This includes:
It’s easy to see how these guidelines can help increase the amount of engagement your content receives, as well as sales and conversions. When it comes to content marketing, it doesn’t have to be a mystery.
The Importance of Education in Furthering Your Career
/in Professional Development/by StrategyDrivenNowadays, thanks to accelerated online degrees, you don’t have to waste your valuable time to earn an extra degree or diploma. Many online courses allow students to cover the same curriculum as traditional colleges but within a shorter period. For example, instead of spending around two years to earn your associate degree from a traditional college setting, you can obtain the same degree from online educators within months. Here are the benefits of education in advancing your career.
Gain Knowledge
A good education can make you more competitive and enhanced. The education you get from online degrees will equip you with the skills you need at your business or workplace. For instance, with a business administration degree, your understanding of various accounting and financial aspects will become much better. And with a mechanical engineering course, you’ll never know what you can achieve in the engineering world.
A management-based program can make you a better leader capable of resolving conflicts at work. In other words, the knowledge you gain is both practical and factual. Furthering your studies broadens your skills and solidifies your experience.
Secures Your Future
Technological advancements have led to more downsizing trends in many companies across the globe. In the spirit of automation and making work easier, every tech-savvy brand wants to reduce human labor. So, if you haven’t positioned yourself strategically, you may become a victim of the next downsizing in your workplace.
Getting an online degree is one way of securing your future at the workplace. If it’s inevitable that your employer has to lay off a few people in your department, your degree may save your neck.
Makes Your Life Better
Unfortunately, society is prone to labeling people according to their educational background and financial status. If you want to earn more at your current job or and a more lucrative job opportunity elsewhere, you need to further your education.
A 2014 Pew Research found out that college graduates with degrees earn around $17,000 more than their counterparts with high school diplomas each year. The amount you make may be what is holding your lifestyle back. So, an online degree can earn you more respect, become more confident, and improve your lifestyle.
Boosts Your Soft Skills
Education can help boost your soft skills, such as teamwork, organization skills, management, and critical thinking. You’ll gain subtle ways of creating influential presentations and come up with effective management styles. Established brands are always looking for employees with sharpened skill sets in these areas. Moreover, once you find a way to boost your soft skills, it might become much easier to climb the career ladder.
Enhances Your Work Ethics
Pursuing higher education can pose a huge challenge to young employees in terms of planning or scheduling. It takes a lot of work, determination, and persistence to pursue a degree while doing a full-time job successfully. But, if you succeed, you’ll be able to demonstrate enhanced work ethics to your colleagues and employer at work.
If done right, you can attract the attention of your superiors at work and be rewarded accordingly. Every employer or manager loves working with employees who have the initiative and drive to expand their skills. It’s a sign that such an employee is willing to do something that will benefit the company as it gives the management hopes that you’ll perform better.
Aside from getting a lucrative job opportunity, a good education can improve your overall discipline. The unique skills you acquire from your training will eventually have an impact on your quality of life. The college academic setting is a great environment to help you expand your skills and gain the knowledge that’ll prepare you for a better career opportunity.
How to Create a Winning Referral Program That Works
/in Marketing & Sales/by StrategyDrivenThere is a reason why big brands are using referral systems to promote their websites. It works. The best part is it continues to work despite all the search engine algorithm changes that happened. This means that you can expect it to work even in the years to come.
What’s a Referral Program?
Before you proceed to the creation of your referral program, you need to know what it is. A referral program is a system when you allow your customers to promote your brand for you. In doing this, they give you the contact information of their family and friends. But it doesn’t stop there. Their family and friends can also similarly promote your brand.
What Makes a Referral Program So Effective
There are several reasons why referral marketing is more effective than other methods. But it is essential to consider what makes it so successful. Out of all the reasons why you should launch a referral system for your business, here are the top three.
It Leverages Networks
Referral marketing works because it leverages networks. Unlike doing your marketing all by yourself, you allow your customers to help you. In this method, you are not doing all the marketing alone. You have an army of customers who can help you advertise your website.
It Spreads Through the Circle of Trust
When your customers promote your brand, they will do it to the people that they know and trust. This can either be their family and friends. These are people that the customers personally know and trust. Because of this relationship, they are far more likely to act on the recommendation. This is because the referrer is someone that they know, and they trust that he is giving him the right advice.
It Elevates a Brand’s Social Proof
The third reason why referral marketing works is social proof. Since the method works through social networks and personal circles of trust, it can positively affect social evidence. Social proof plays a significant role in sales conversion. When a prospective customer is on the verge of buying, he only needs a slight push in a positive direction. Social proof is that ‘push.’ Positive reviews or simple recommendations can do a lot for your brand. It can help your prospective customers see your brand in the positive light, and this will encourage them to buy from you.
NOTE: Referral marketing is also great for eCommerce. The reason is its impact on cart abandonment. It is one of the keys to stop shopping cart abandonment and increase traffic and sales. This is the reason why referral software is often available for eCommerce platforms. It is quite useful for online stores.
Characteristics of a Winning Referral Program
Ideally, you’ll want a winning referral program. Any business owner can easily create a referral campaign. Even new business owners like Best Drums Set Labs have done this with success. However, you’ll need to implement some practices if you want to get the most out of referral marketing. Here are the characteristics that you’ll need to look for if you’re going to create a successful referral system.
The Program Can Be Easily Found
Your customers must see your referral system. It is useless to create this if it is just buried in your website’s sitemap. The link to the referral page should be prominent. It should be seen on the front page of your website, and your customers should be continuously reminded to advertise the website. You can do this in critical places in your online store. Some of the most common locations for referral program promotion are on the homepage, checkout page, and emails. This will allow you to personally reach out and tell your audience that you have a referral system that they can use to earn rewards.
It Gets Regular Referrals
If you are going to determine the success of a referral system with one factor, that would be the number of regular referrals. This means that references should not only come in when you have just created your referral system. It should also come in regularly. This shows how well you are promoting your referral system and how well your audience is responding to it.
Referrals Have a High Chance of Conversion
Aside from the number of referrals, the quality of references matter as well. This means that you should not only get a ton of referrals for your system. You should also get referrals that have a high chance of converting into sales. You can measure this by dividing the number of transactions with the number of referrals. This will show you the percentage of references that are converting into sales. This is also a useful metric to consider when you want to measure the overall effectiveness of your campaign.
How to Create a Winning Referral Program
A winning referral program is produced with the right processes. You need to ensure that every step in the process is executed well. In this section, you’ll learn the steps that you need to implement to have a winning referral program for your brand.
Start with Your Target Audience
A winning referral program starts with the right reward. How can you know if the prize that you have set is right for your business? That’s simple. You can ask your audience. Many business owners just skip this,.They usually resort to guessing the proper reward. This is a grave mistake, for it often results in a referral program that is ignored by the audience. The best path is to ask the audience about what they like and give it to them. Don’t assume. Always make it a point to ask.
Experiment with Different Rewards
There are times when you will not be able to know the right reward. This is when you have done your part of asking your audience, but they came up with mixed answers. They may have given you some answers, but it is not enough for you to make a decision. So what can you do? That’s simple. You can experiment. This is where you take the suggestions of the audience and experiment with them to see which will be received by your other customers. This is also good for testing the system. Some customers like to say that they prefer a particular reward but will not sign up when it is released. This is the best way to test these suggestions to see if the audience will act on them.
PRO TIP: One way to encourage the audience to sign up is the “rule of x3”. If your customer gave you a suggestion that you should give away a particular reward, always multiply that by three. By adding more rewards, it will also triple your chances of getting more signups. This is a strategy that worked for me, and I think that it can work incredibly well for you as well.
Every referral system has 3 rewarding modes. These depend on who is rewarded. There is a mode where you choose to pay the referrer. There is another mode where you wish to reward a friend or referral. The best style is to reward both. This is where you give a reward to encourage the referrer to promote the system and pay the friend to help him to sign up. It eliminates all friction, so it is the best mode out of the bunch.
PRO TIP: There are three basic rewarding modes. But you can also create your way. If you are selling a unique product or service, you may want to consider using a different approach. Being creative can help you in promoting referral systems, so don’t be afraid to exercise that here as well.
Create Exclusive Referral Programs for Influencers
One of the best ways to promote your referral system is to ask influencers for help. Influencers are people who have gained a significant amount of followers in their field. They have a substantial amount of followers for a reason. This may be because they are considered experts in the niche, or they have established themselves as idols or inspirations. Because of this, they have a massive impact on their followers’ actions and decisions. This is the reason why influencer marketing is highly effective in promoting referral programs. This is provided that you create an exclusive system for each influencer.
Here is the reason why exclusivity is a must. Every influencer has a unique culture that he conveys. You mustn’t only sell or give away a product or reward. It is also vital that you appeal to that unique culture if you want the influencer method to be successful. You need to communicate with the influencer and look for ways on how you can help his target market. From here, you can select a proper reward for your referral system and create an exclusive referral campaign just for the influencer.
Transform Your Program into a Contest
Another way you can make your referral system more interesting is to transform it into a contest. In a conventional referral system, you ask customers or website visitors to promote your brand. This is where they input the names and contact information of their family and friends. However, this model doesn’t have a sense of urgency in it. It also doesn’t have a competitive factor. If you transform your referral system into a contest, you add that competitive and urgent element into your system. This means that your customers and website visitors will not only sign up because of a reward. They will also sign up because they have a chance to win a high ticket product.
PRO TIP: Did you know that you can combine contests with influencer marketing? If your prize is attractive enough, you can also encourage influencers to participate. On Instagram, a travel company launched a campaign where they give away free travel to 10 countries. The reward was so attractive that it encouraged influencers to sign up as well.
Use Referral Software
If you plan to launch a referral system, be sure to use the software. Referral software will allow you to configure and start your referral system in a few clicks. The best part is that there is always software that is compatible with your platform. There are WooCommerce affiliate plugins, Shopify apps, and Bigcommerce software that you can use. You just need to check the platform of your website and choose a referral system that will work for you.
Measure Your Results
Once you have implemented your referral system, you must know how to measure the results. More than the trends in your referral software, you should also link your website with an analytics app. This will help you see and track the incoming traffic and compare it with the numbers of referrals and sales that you are getting. Ultimately, you should measure the percentage of your website traffic that converts into sales, subscribers, and referrers. This will give you an overview of the success of your referral system.
Will Referral Marketing Work For You?
It is easy to become doubtful that referral marketing will work for you. However, you will not be able to see if it is sufficient until you try it. Referral marketing is one of the few methods that can work even for brand new websites. Unicorn brands have used them when they are just launching their products and services. PayPal has used it to get its initial members. Uber used it to get more drivers and riders. It is one of the easiest ways to introduce a brand to the public, and it can work for you too.
As you can see, it doesn’t take a lot for a referral campaign to become successful. The steps included in this article are easy to implement. You can quickly launch a referral system with software. This doesn’t require any coding or designing skills on your part. It is a click-and-go system where you can start a referral program by inputting a few details.