Last year the first post of the year was titled The Job Search Rabbit Hole.  I think I should make a (kids) book out of it.

I’ve used that idea as the 2011 theme, and focused a lot on job seekers chasing something that doesn’t exist (read the post for the story/analogy).

This year I want to talk about something I’ve realized as I’ve spoken to thousands of professionals and executives  across the U.S.  I have started to say that “the job search is 99% communication.” Written, verbal, body language, etc.  It’s all about how we communicate.  And we can communicate A LOT better.

I just finished a life-changing book written by friend and mentor Mark LeBlanc titled Never Be The Same.  It is a fast read, and completely intriguing.  It was written after Mark finished a 500 mile walk across Spain… the famous Camino de Santiago pilgrimage.  Get the book here – I loved Mark’s unique style … it was just delightful to absorb.

Mark gave me permission to share this excerpt from his book… I LOVED this story as it illustrates the communication problem that I want to help YOU think about this year.  Mark talks about going to a networking event and sharing his elevator pitch. It had all the bad, junky, jargon cliche yuck that most elevator pitches have.  One day, though, he wasn’t in the mood to share it, so he shook things up (almost accidentally).  He writes:

It was my turn-my minute-to stand up and introduce myself, again.  Only this time I didn’t blather on about my broad range of services and menu of presentation topics.  None of which, you might recall, had I provided to a single client or audience since Small Business (No-So-Much) Success was born.  My calendar was empty from Day One. Instead, I simply got up and shared my dream. In a monotone, mind you, with nary an inflection of enthusiasm whatsoever.

“My name is Mark LeBlanc, and I run a company called Small Business Success. I work with people who want to start a business and with small business owners who want to grow their business.”  Period, end.  I shut up and sat down.

There were about twenty five business people at this meeting, and when it was over, seven of them came up to me.  Now, this was a total surprise, because for ten months, no one-and I mean no one-had any interest in what I did or had to offer. Instead of repelling people, as was my habit, I seemed to be attracting prospects. There was a line, for heavens sake!

“I want to start my own business,” said one woman.

“My wife has been wanting to start her own business; give me your card,” said a business man.

“I’ve been in business ten years, but seem kind of stuck. I’d like to know more about growing my business, cranking it up a notch. Can you help me with that?” came from another.

My favorite response was a friend’s: “I’ve been listening to your introductions for ten months, and I had no clue this is what you do. I think I can refer a few people to you.”

Within thirty days, seven prospects wrote me a check and engaged me in the process of helping them start of grow their business. It was as if the floodgates opened and soon prospects came in faster than I could handle. Okay, maybe not that fast, but when you did not earn a nickel for nearly a year, this new-found success felt like I was sipping from the fire hose.”

WOW.

I had a similar experience, which I blogged about here: Substantiate Yourself.

I am convinced that the canned 30 second pitches job seekers are coached to work on lead to really, really bad results.  The pitch sucks. No one responds.  Mark changed his, focusing on the outcomes of his work, and he got results.

Small, minor, easy changes can change the results.  He didn’t throw in bigger words, fancier phrases, or more stuff.  He whitled it down to the core message, and he got results.

This is a theme that will be on my mind all year.

Will you join me this year, on our journey to better career management?

I saw a question on a LinkedIn Group about working with recruiters.

Job seekers continue to wonder how this relationship works, how to get value out of it, etc.

Here’s a post from Harriet Constable titled The Importance of Recruiters for Job-Seekers. I never had the benefits listed by Harriet, as the 30 or so recruiters I tried to network with were all busy trying to find inbox zero, or working with better candidates.  I was nothing more than another resume to them.

As job seekers we’re told we shouldn’t blast our resume out, so that employers could find it and take all the incentive away from a recruiter to promote us.  There is a conflict of interest there… they will promote us if they can get a commission from a placement, BUT if another recruiter submitted our resume, or if the hiring manager got our resume because of our networking efforts, the recruiter might feel slighted, and will not be able to get a commission if we are hired.  If they know our resume is all over the place, they lose incentive to ever work with, or promote, us.

If you ask me for advice on working with a recruiter, here it is: Pay $40 and get Nick Corcodilos‘ book: How to Work with Headhunters.

Nick is well-known in the industry for shooting straight from the hip and telling it like it is.

If you have ANY questions about how to work with recruiters, or you want to go to the next level, you MUST get his book.  It will be well-worth the $40…. OR, spend hours and hours asking unqualified people what they think… I’d say drop the $40 and get it from the expert.

(nope, I don’t get a penny out of Nick’s sales)

Happy Halloween.

Now that that is out of the way…

I’ve been working on a new project.  It was inspired by parts of many conversations I’ve had over the last couple of years.  This will be my next book, hopefully in print by the end of this year (or early in 2012).  I’m really hustling on it.

In part, it was inspired by Dick Bolles, author of the mega-best-seller What Color Is Your Parachute. Dick impressed the idea on me that as we (as speakers, authors, etc.) show people their alternatives, we give them hope.  I thought back to my job search when I felt all my alternatives had dried up, and how hopeless and out of control I felt.

When I got the idea for JibberJobber, which was an alternative, I know the hope I had, and exuded, was like night and day.

In part, this book was inspired by people I’ve talked to, after my presentations, about what they are doing, or what they could do, to earn some money “on the side.”

In part, this book was inspired by Robert Allen, and his book Multiple Streams of Income.

In part, this book was inspired by Timothy Ferris (4 Hour Work Week), who shares examples of people who are doing it (he calls their businesses their “muses“), and GaryVee (Gary Vaynerchuk), who included 4 killer ideas at the back of his book, Crush It.

In part, this book is inspired by the stories I hear about, and read about, of people who are ready to take the plunge and JUST DO IT. One in particular came from DOBA founder, about the dude who wanted to clean his garbage cans, and ended up making more per day than some make per week.

101 Alternatives to a Real Job is a book about hope.  It’s about alternatives. It’s about ideas.  The message is “these people are doing it, and maybe you can, too.”

Whether that means you start a business with the potential to make thousands each month, or just a hobby that makes a few hundred bucks a month.

I want to take the inspiration I’ve gotten from my audiences over the years and share it with millions of people… people who’s hope has been gone for a long time.  People who have been told there’s only one way to a good career.

This book shows 101 alternatives to that old definition of a “good career.”

Alternatives and options = Hope.

If you want to preorder, email me and let me know how you want to pay.  I’ll reply back with the options (check, Paypal, credit card)

To keep updated, watch this blog, or get on my LinkedIn Group.

A couple of weeks ago I was on a webinar where I once again promoted Michael Webb’s job search program as the most solid program I’ve seen.

It’s simple.

But it’s really hard to implement (until you just DO IT).

After the webinar, I was thinking about his system, and why people won’t do it.

They spend tons of time and effort and money and thinking on other systems that seem more simple, and promise at least the same results.

I started to think about health, and comparing it to this issue.  Michael Webb’s system is like eating right and exercising, which is a pretty solid plan to get healthy (lose weight, etc.).

But we (collectively) don’t want to do that.  It’s too hard.  We want the ab machine from the commercial.  Or we want the pill, or the spoonful of whatever.  We want the shortcut.

How does that shortcut work out?

That’s right.

So go for the solid program, not the fad diet.

I’m not saying Michael’s is the only solid program – I have partners and colleagues that have solid programs.  They are out there.

But I’m telling you, if you are looking for the short cut, you might see quick results that tend to fade quickly.

I got a link to a terrific post from Manny Otiko, a PR professional in Southern California.  Manny is like an industry watchdog, sharing good stuff for all PR professionals.

The post is titled 20 things every PR pro should know how to do.

Almost every single point here could be applicable to job seekers…. that’s why I retitled it: 20 things every JOB SEEKER should know how to do

Why?  Because the job search is about communication.

Learn how to do many of the things in that post, and you’ll be a much better job seeker.

Go read the post, on PR Daily.  Excellent stuff.

One of my favorite career/business authors has done it again!  Alexandra Levit , who I met over dinner in Chicago, is releasing her newest book today: Blind Spots: 10 Business Myths You Can’t Afford to Believe on Your New Path to Success

I got a chance to interview Alexandra… here are my questions and her responses:

What is the premise of Blind Spots?

The recent recession has toppled and transformed our ideas about just about everything. Massive change is afoot and many of us are still reeling from the work-force bloodletting that began three years ago and the downfall of companies we thought we all respected.

If we take the time to examine the world that’s rising out of the ashes, we see that a major paradigm shift is occurring. We have realized that money and manipulation will only go so far, and we’ve come 180 degrees from the backbiting and dirty politics that characterized the dog-eat-dog 1980s. Inside the business world, organizations and individuals are looking inward and seeking a return to traditional human values like honesty, trust, moderation, open communication, and one-on-one relationship building.

Those who wish to be gainfully employed for the foreseeable future must take this transformation seriously and adapt new ways of doing things. In this book, we explore the 10 biggest myths of business success that people believe to be true even though they don’t work for 98 percent of all truly successful people.

The time to debunk these myths is now because they are more dangerous and less viable than ever given this post-recessionary climate of ethical scrutiny and intense competition. If adhering to these myths didn’t get you places before, it really won’t today, when employers want to hire people with Puritan work ethics, people who want to do their jobs well without rocking the boat too much and who are strong representatives of the organization’s culture.

If you want to get ahead in this values-driven environment, putting on blinders is not an option and you can’t afford to waste time. You must throw away these myths, determine what will work in their place, and immediately put it to use.

What makes Blind Spots different from other career books?

I wrote Blind Spots because I was tired of reading silly theories and platitudes dispensed by business and career authors who sell their work by giving these myths credibility and by telling readers what they want to hear.

Here is one thing you can count on: I will tell it like it is. I will be honest with you about what will render you successful in today’s business world, not yesterday’s.

I refuse to give you overly provocative advice that hasn’t worked for anyone I know, like quitting your job tomorrow and starting your own business the next day, or marching into your boss’ office and announcing that he should appreciate your individuality. This advice is not trendy and it’s not hype – it’s what actually works.

What do you hope readers will take away from Blind Spots?

Each chapter includes academic research, expert commentary, anecdotes from contemporary culture, and inspirational stories from people like you who either fell prey to a myth or had to rethink their approach, or who recognized the myth for what it was and consequently came out on top.

Along the way, I’ll provide specific advice for course-correcting that readers can use immediately in their work lives. I hope that by the time they finish reading, they realize that a lot of what it takes to be successful is already a part of who they are, and that they absolutely have the power to cultivate the skills and attitude that will take them wherever they want to go.

What’s your favorite myth and why?

I have personally experienced most of the book’s myths myself, so they are all favorites in a way. But overnight success is the first myth I debunk in the book because it’s one of the most widely held beliefs. It’s also hugely misleading, and adopting this idea that you can easily become an overnight success could actually be quite damaging for your career and life.

The truth is simple. There are very few – if any – genuine cases of overnight success. The majority of successful people have dedicated themselves to a goal and persevered for a long time, experiencing several setbacks before reaching a high level of achievement that is finally noticed and talked about by others.

Sounds awesome, right?  I love Alexandra’s writing style… and am anxious to see her new book

When I was speaking on my last trip, in the Bay Area, I talked about writing a book.

Here are two questions I got from one of the attendees, via email:

How does one go about self-publishing? and Why is this better than attempting to get one’s book published by a well know publisher?

There’s another, bigger, question that needs to be answered first.  That is: what do you hope to accomplish with your published book?  Is it book sales ($$), or is it fame, or is it a stronger brand (as an expert)?  Or something else?

Knowing that might affect how you approach your own book plans.

But back to her two questions:

First question. How does one go about self-publishing?

I had an eye-opening moment when my publisher (Happy About) told me he does around (or over) 250 tasks for an author.  The obvious include copy editing (the words) and layout editing (preparing it for the printer).  He has his distribution channels (mainly Amazon, I think), and he does fullfillment (he ships the books when people order).  He handles money, and taxes, and refunds, etc.

And over 200 other things. (hear a podcast interview he did with me on why you shouldn’t self publish )

When I was towards the end of my second book I had totally planned on self-publishing.  However, by the time I was done, I was ready to hand it off and have someone else do all of the rest of the work. I was tired, having put heart-and-soul into that big project, and I wanted to essentially outsource the rest.

My plan for my next books is to self-publish, and right now that feels right. I am getting all my ducks in a row to do this, and know I’ll spend time getting my ISBN number, working with designers and editors, the printer, etc.  But it’s a challenge I think I want to undertake right now  We’ll see if that changes, like it did last time.

Here’s a high level overview on self-publishing:

1. Write the manuscript.
2. Have it edited (copy editing)
3. Have it prepared for the printer (layout editing)
4. Have all book cover stuff ready and designed (including ISBN, UPC bar code, inclusion of testimonials and foreword, etc.)
5. Send order to printer (assuming you’ve gotten bids and picked one)

Now, you have at least 100 books in your “inventory.”  Good luck with that.  What you do with those is for another blog post

Second question: Why is this better than attempting to get one’s book published by a well know publisher?

I’ll never forget when a Dan from Wiley, a major publisher, reached out to me to pitch me on a book proposal.  It was very exciting at first, but after a while the whole thing fell apart. He reached out to me, and then they rejected the idea, after I put hours into the proposal.

Some of those hours were at the hospital while my wife was in early stages of labor.  Yep, I wasted my freaking special time on a stupid book proposal because “we’re meeting in the morning and I really want to take this to my team.”

I got sucked into that.

It would have been worth a $15,000 advance, and some nice royalties if the book sold well.

But HIS idea was rejected by his peers, after I did a lot of legwork for it.

Our final conversation was not very cordial, to say the least, and he’s tainted the way I look at Wiley, or other big publishers.

What do you get from a big publisher?  Lots of expectations.  They expect YOU to market it. Completely.  No matter what they say, if you don’t market it, you lose, period.

I remember Dan saying “but if you publish with us, you could then say you have a Wiley book!”

Big flippin’ deal.

Can you tell I’m still miffed about it?

The last straw was when he suggested I buy 2,000 copies in advance.  I’m no math genious but isn’t that about $40,000, out of pocket, just so I can say I have a Wiley book?

NO THANKS.

I’d rather self-publish. It might cost me about $2,000 out of pocket, and some time, but I got time, and I got $2k, especially if it means I don’t have to deal with a book factory that only cares about their bottom line.

I want to do it on my own terms.

I want to keep certain things in the final manuscript (I’ve heard from other authors that their editors took stuff out).

I want to make more than 25 cents per book sale (I’ve heard from authors that they might get “a few bucks,” but I know one who gets 25 cents per sale. You have to sell a LOT of books to make any money that way.)

I want to do it on my own schedule.  Timelines are good, but book writing isn’t the only thing I do for a living… and if they are riding me on a deadline I’m not sure that will be good for me.

I have friends who write books for big authors, and I think they love it.

I am simply choosing to do it on my own for now.

Will I ever do a big publisher?  Sure, if I get a sweet deal, a la GaryVee (supposedly got a $1M book deal to write 10 books). Why?  Because he has an audience (aka, platform).  He has almost 1M people following him on Twitter.

Do you have a platform?  If you do, you can take the money upfront (like he did), or you can self publish (like Seth Godin chose to do (MUST READ)), and make it on the back (and maybe make more, if you are good at hawking your books).

So we go back to the question: what is the purpose of your book?

Then, will a publisher help you accomplish that goal, or is the work really still in your lap?

Another “Now What???” book rolled off the press: I Want To Work In An Association – Now What???, by Charlotte Weeks.

I met Charlotte at a career conference a few years ago and we immediately connected.  Her enthusiasm for the career space was contagious.  She later became the president of the National Resume Writers Association, which is a two year volunteer term.

Charlotte Weeks lives in Chicago, which is a hotbed for associations.  In my uneducated mind, this includes nonprofits, societies, etc.

As I travel the country and speak to professionals and executives in transition, I hear many people who are interested in the nonprofit space.  Many are interested because they want to have a “more meaningful” job, regardless of the money.

From what I hear, though, nonprofits can pay pretty good!

If you are interested in this space, get Charlotte’s book digitally for 9.99 or 11.95, or a physical copy for 16.96.  Click here for the options.

Great job Charlotte – I know it’s a huge task to get a book out, and YOU DID IT!

Last week I wrote about Alison Doyle’s job search books, and I got an email from JibberJobber user Cleo Parker (on Twitter) with what I decided would be today’s post  From Cleo:

Reading your post about books this morning prompted me to share a great book I’m reading right now “Succeed- How we can reach our goals” by Heidi Grant Halvorson. In it she discusses research about how people see themselves, see their goals, and which approaches pay off.

Although I would think job seekers who of a mind set to use Jibber Jobber are well on the “right thinking” path that involves beliefs such as hard work is more important than luck and you can get better at pretty much everything with effort, I found it enlightening and valuable, and I’d suspect anyone in a job search would benefit from reading it.  Especially the people who think that they’ll be “discovered” without putting in the work needed to be “found” or those that just give up.

She’s got one statement that I love about deciding if you should abandon a goal:

“If the answer is “I don’t have what it takes”, you are wrong. You do have what it takes. Start again.”

(My Dad had a saying “Can’t never did anything” – same sentiment,
probably why I like it!)

Although I’m not happy about how many jobs I’ve gone through in the last few years (I’m getting better and better at landing them, now I have to be more careful about wanting and keeping what I get!) I’m happy to have had some additional time on my hands the past few weeks to read this book. I encourage you to check it out!

Thanks for the insight, Cleo – I know this will be a great book for many of my readers/users.

My work continues to get awesome media mentions.  This one is from Meridith Levinson at CIO.com.  She titles it How Writing a Book Can Boost Your IT Career and Your Income.

She starts:

“Jason Alba always wanted to write a book. When he started his own business, a service for job seekers called JibberJobber, in 2006, he finally had the time. One night in January 2006, while dining out, Alba shared his book idea—an explanation of how job seekers could use LinkedIn in their job search—with some friends who had books published. Alba says they loved the idea, and one of them offered to introduce Alba to his publisher and serve as his executive editor.”

This is really a fun story… you can read the article here. I know many of you are interested in writing a book. My advice? DO IT!

One of my favorite quotes from her article:

“Even if your book sucks, even if it’s small, even if it’s lame, just being the author of a book … gives you credibility.”

Even if it SUCKS?

Yes, even if it sucks.

I’m not saying to write a sucky book, but don’t put it off for years, while you get to “excellent,” when you can get it published sooner, at “good enough.”

Meridith, thanks for letting me share my story with your readers