When Brad Newman introduced himself as an actrepreneur, I was hooked. Everything about his title told me he had information I wanted to hear. Over a few additional seconds, I learned that this actor and entrepreneur is the founder of Zentainment, "a socially conscious media company committed to growing brands that encourage you to dream big and live a sustainable life." From there, a longer conversation and a business relationship followed, all spurred by an attention-getting introduction that took just moments to deliver.
The elevator pitch rides into the speed-dating era
Today's economic environment has turned job fairs, trade shows, networking events and even sidewalk sales into buyers' markets where only those with quick, compelling pitches survive.
In the 1990s, high-tech entrepreneurs named these short spiels "elevator pitches" because they could be conveyed during an elevator ride. The tech bubble ballooned and burst (and ballooned again), but elevator pitches are here to stay. Everyone whether seeking employment, sales or profitable business associations needs one.
Is your introduction ready to roll?
"So, what do you do?"
Those five words are on the minds of everyone you meet, whether in person or online. Brad Newman's introduction helps provide a formula that can assist you in preparing your answer and attracting attention from those you aim to impress:
Describe yourself in five words or less. Use a distinctive title or phrase that makes people think, "This sounds interesting" or "This is what I'm looking for." Consider the difference between "I'm a copywriter" and "I turn browsers into buyers." Or, in Newman's case, between "social media entrepreneur" and "actrepreneur."
Explain what you do in one sentence. After introducing yourself, introduce your offerings. "Our name combines the words Zen and entertainment, which stakes out our media space," Newman says. "We're a media company that focuses on socially conscious content. That definition tells what Zentainment is and rules out what it isn't." Work on a similarly specific description for your business.
Define your target audience. "Our market is comprised of 30- to 49-year-olds who care about socially conscious living," Newman says. "By defining our market in that way, people immediately know whether our business is for them." In other words, Zentainment isn't trying to be all things to all people. It's focused on a specific target audience, which is a key to success in today's crowded business environment.
Communicate your vision. "We're committed to growing brands that encourage you to dream big and live a sustainable life, whether they're our own brands or ones for which we consult and serve as producers," Newman says. "Our vision is clear enough to keep us focused and broad enough to make us adaptive to the opportunities of a changing market and media world." It's also compelling enough to attract a growing contingent of Zentainment consumers and business clients. What does your business stand for? What attracts your customers and their loyalty? Your answers can serve as a magnet for growth.
Practice, practice, practice. Create a script that conveys who you are, what you offer, your market, and the distinctive benefits you provide. Edit until you can introduce yourself and your business in less than a minute, which is how long most prospects will give you to win their interest.
Shrink your introduction even further so you can tell your story in 20 words or less. That's how much space you have in most marketing materials and online presentations, whether on your own site, on social media sites, or on sites that link to your home page. If you're thinking, "Twenty words? You've got to be kidding," scroll back to the start of this column. That's exactly what Brad Newman used to get my interest.
Barbara Findlay Schenck is a small-business strategist, the author of “Small Business Marketing for Dummies” and the co-author of “Branding for Dummies,” “Selling Your Business for Dummies” and “Business Plans Kit for Dummies.”
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Keep your chin up
How to stay positive during a long job search
By Dawn Rosenberg McKay, About.com Guide
Losing your job can be devastating. You have to deal with loss of income, loss of health insurance, and the feeling of rejection. Of course if you find a job quickly those feelings may all be alleviated. However, in a tough job market, finding a job can be difficult. Extremely talented people can be out of work for months at a time. Hopefully a combination of your severance package, unemployment insurance, and your savings will sustain you financially. COBRA (The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) will help you continue your health insurance for a while. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) will help you continue your health insurance if your insurance from your employer expires before you find a new job.
The hardest part of being out of work for an extended period of time will be keeping a positive attitude when a job search turns from weeks into months. And it's imperative that you keep a positive attitude, both for your own emotional well-being as well as for the impression you give to potential employers. Here are some things you can do to keep your chin up when your job search seems to be heading downhill fast.
• While you should spend a respectable amount of time on your job search, you should take time away from it too. Find something you enjoy doing and spend a few hours a week doing it.
• Take the time to do things you don't have time to do while you're working, i.e. spending time with your children during the week instead of only on weekends.
• Take on household chores you didn't have time for when you were employed.
• Volunteer. Find a project that can use your skills and talents and spend some time on it. Just be sure not to abandon it entirely when you find a job.
• Learn a new skill. There are some free online courses available as well as low cost courses available through continuing education in your community.
• Go to a movie matinee. The crowds are much smaller and the prices are usually lower.
• Join a job hunting support group like the ones listed on the Riley Guide. Share your experiences with others in the same situation and network.
• Meet friends for lunch.
• Take long walks.
• Read: Borrow books from your public library.
By Dawn Rosenberg McKay, About.com Guide
Losing your job can be devastating. You have to deal with loss of income, loss of health insurance, and the feeling of rejection. Of course if you find a job quickly those feelings may all be alleviated. However, in a tough job market, finding a job can be difficult. Extremely talented people can be out of work for months at a time. Hopefully a combination of your severance package, unemployment insurance, and your savings will sustain you financially. COBRA (The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) will help you continue your health insurance for a while. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) will help you continue your health insurance if your insurance from your employer expires before you find a new job.
The hardest part of being out of work for an extended period of time will be keeping a positive attitude when a job search turns from weeks into months. And it's imperative that you keep a positive attitude, both for your own emotional well-being as well as for the impression you give to potential employers. Here are some things you can do to keep your chin up when your job search seems to be heading downhill fast.
• While you should spend a respectable amount of time on your job search, you should take time away from it too. Find something you enjoy doing and spend a few hours a week doing it.
• Take the time to do things you don't have time to do while you're working, i.e. spending time with your children during the week instead of only on weekends.
• Take on household chores you didn't have time for when you were employed.
• Volunteer. Find a project that can use your skills and talents and spend some time on it. Just be sure not to abandon it entirely when you find a job.
• Learn a new skill. There are some free online courses available as well as low cost courses available through continuing education in your community.
• Go to a movie matinee. The crowds are much smaller and the prices are usually lower.
• Join a job hunting support group like the ones listed on the Riley Guide. Share your experiences with others in the same situation and network.
• Meet friends for lunch.
• Take long walks.
• Read: Borrow books from your public library.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Companies hire at slow pace for third straight month
Private employers added just 71,000 workers in July
Lynne Sladky / AP
Joseph Oeler Jr., 35, of Hollywood, Fla. waits in line at a job fair sponsored by National Career Fairs in Dania Beach, Fla. Employment fell for a second straight month in July as more temporary census jobs ended and private hiring rose less than expected, pointing to an anemic recovery.
WASHINGTON — Companies showed a lack of confidence about hiring for a third straight month in July, making it likely the economy will grow more slowly the rest of the year.
Private employers added a net total of only 71,000 jobs last month, according to the Labor Department's July report Friday. That number was far below the roughly 200,000 needed each month to reduce the unemployment rate. The unemployment rate for July was unchanged at 9.5 percent.
The modest job gains were even weaker when considering a loss of government jobs at the local, state and federal levels in July that weren't temporary census positions. Factoring those in the net gain was only 12,000 jobs.
“The good news here is we are not falling off a cliff; we are getting job growth,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com, told CNBC Friday. “But obviously this is not enough. If we don’t see better job growth later this year and next the recovery is in jeopardy.”
Speaking on the July jobs report following a tour Friday of Gelberg Signs, a small business in Washington, D.C., President Barack Obama emphasized the significance of the private sector job growth last month. Jobs in the private sector have grown in each of the past seven months instead of declining as they did in the first seven months of 2009, he noted.
“That’s a good sign,” Obama said, adding that the U.S. economy is emerging from the most serious downturn since the Great Depression. “Climbing out of any recession takes some time,” he said. “The road of recovery is not a straight line.”
Still, progress “needs to come faster,” Obama said, and he called on Congress to take more steps to help businesses.
In its July jobs report the government sharply revised down its jobs figures for June, saying businesses hired fewer workers than previously estimated. June's private-sector job gains were lowered to 31,000 from 83,000. May's were raised slightly to show 51,000 net new jobs, from 33,000.
Overall, the economy lost a net total of 131,000 jobs last month, mostly because 143,000 temporary census jobs ended.
The slow pace of hiring will weigh on the recovery, he said, with economic growth in the current quarter likely to come in even lower than the April-to-June quarter's already weak 2.4 percent.
The "underemployment" rate was the same as in June, at 16.5 percent. That includes those working part time who would prefer full-time work and unemployed workers who've given up on their job hunts.
All told, there were 14.6 million people looking for work in July. That's roughly double the figure in December 2007, when the recession began.
Even if hiring picks up, it will take years to regain all the jobs lost during the recession. The economy lost 8.4 million jobs in 2008 and 2009. This year, private employers have added only 559,000 new hires.
Friday's report is being closely watched by the Federal Reserve as it considers ways to energize the recovery. The report could persuade the Fed to take new steps to boost the economy and keep interest rates at record lows when it meets next week.
Without more jobs, consumers won't see the gains in income needed to encourage them to spend more and support economic activity. Even those with jobs may not feel confident enough to ramp up their spending.
That's important because many of the trends driving economic growth earlier in the recovery are fading. Companies boosted production in the winter and spring to rebuild inventories that were depleted in the recession. But that boost won't last much longer. And the impact of the federal government's stimulus package is also declining.
The economy grew at 5 percent in the fourth quarter last year and 3.7 percent in the first three months of 2010. But that slowed to 2.4 percent in the April-June period. That's not fast enough to generate many jobs and reduce the unemployment rate.
Many companies appear to be getting more out of their current employees rather than adding new staff. The average work week increased by one-tenth of an hour to 34.2 hours, the department said. That's up from about 33 hours in the depths of the recession.
Average hourly pay also rose 4 cents to $22.59, up 1.8 percent from a year earlier. That, along with the increase in hours worked, could provide some boost to spending.
The number of temporary jobs fell by 5,600, the first drop after nine months of gains.
Employers usually hire temp workers if they need more output but don't want to hire permanent employees. But "firms aren't even adding temporary workers right now," Gault said.
Manufacturers added 36,000 jobs in July, slightly above its monthly average this year. Those gains were aided by General Motor's decision to keep its plants running last month. Usually it closes them and temporarily lays off employees to retool for the new model year.
Construction firms cut jobs for the third straight month, losing 11,000, while financial firms shed 17,000 workers.
But retailers added 6,700 jobs. And the leisure and hospitality industry hired 6,000 additional staffers.
Corporate net income rose sharply in the second quarter, but businesses aren't yet using the proceeds to ramp up hiring. Companies in the S&P 500 index reported a 46 percent increase in net income for the April-to-June period, compared to a year earlier.
But many employers are uncertain about the direction of the economy. Some are concerned sales will slow once government stimulus and other temporary factors fade. Others fear what will happen if federal income taxes are allowed to rise next year as tax cuts enacted by President George W. Bush expire. "People have a long worry list they're looking at," said Ethan Harris, chief economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Some companies are adding permanent workers. The hospital chain HCA Inc. has 8,300 open positions, company spokesman Ed Fishbough said. That includes nurses, physicians and information technology professionals needed to build HCA's ability to handle electronic medical records. HCA employs about 190,000 people.
But layoffs are also continuing. FBR Capital Markets, an investment bank based in Arlington, Va., cut its work force by about 15 percent in early July to about 500 employees, saying it needed to reduce costs.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Lynne Sladky / AP
Joseph Oeler Jr., 35, of Hollywood, Fla. waits in line at a job fair sponsored by National Career Fairs in Dania Beach, Fla. Employment fell for a second straight month in July as more temporary census jobs ended and private hiring rose less than expected, pointing to an anemic recovery.
WASHINGTON — Companies showed a lack of confidence about hiring for a third straight month in July, making it likely the economy will grow more slowly the rest of the year.
Private employers added a net total of only 71,000 jobs last month, according to the Labor Department's July report Friday. That number was far below the roughly 200,000 needed each month to reduce the unemployment rate. The unemployment rate for July was unchanged at 9.5 percent.
The modest job gains were even weaker when considering a loss of government jobs at the local, state and federal levels in July that weren't temporary census positions. Factoring those in the net gain was only 12,000 jobs.
“The good news here is we are not falling off a cliff; we are getting job growth,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com, told CNBC Friday. “But obviously this is not enough. If we don’t see better job growth later this year and next the recovery is in jeopardy.”
Speaking on the July jobs report following a tour Friday of Gelberg Signs, a small business in Washington, D.C., President Barack Obama emphasized the significance of the private sector job growth last month. Jobs in the private sector have grown in each of the past seven months instead of declining as they did in the first seven months of 2009, he noted.
“That’s a good sign,” Obama said, adding that the U.S. economy is emerging from the most serious downturn since the Great Depression. “Climbing out of any recession takes some time,” he said. “The road of recovery is not a straight line.”
Still, progress “needs to come faster,” Obama said, and he called on Congress to take more steps to help businesses.
In its July jobs report the government sharply revised down its jobs figures for June, saying businesses hired fewer workers than previously estimated. June's private-sector job gains were lowered to 31,000 from 83,000. May's were raised slightly to show 51,000 net new jobs, from 33,000.
Overall, the economy lost a net total of 131,000 jobs last month, mostly because 143,000 temporary census jobs ended.
The slow pace of hiring will weigh on the recovery, he said, with economic growth in the current quarter likely to come in even lower than the April-to-June quarter's already weak 2.4 percent.
The "underemployment" rate was the same as in June, at 16.5 percent. That includes those working part time who would prefer full-time work and unemployed workers who've given up on their job hunts.
All told, there were 14.6 million people looking for work in July. That's roughly double the figure in December 2007, when the recession began.
Even if hiring picks up, it will take years to regain all the jobs lost during the recession. The economy lost 8.4 million jobs in 2008 and 2009. This year, private employers have added only 559,000 new hires.
Friday's report is being closely watched by the Federal Reserve as it considers ways to energize the recovery. The report could persuade the Fed to take new steps to boost the economy and keep interest rates at record lows when it meets next week.
Without more jobs, consumers won't see the gains in income needed to encourage them to spend more and support economic activity. Even those with jobs may not feel confident enough to ramp up their spending.
That's important because many of the trends driving economic growth earlier in the recovery are fading. Companies boosted production in the winter and spring to rebuild inventories that were depleted in the recession. But that boost won't last much longer. And the impact of the federal government's stimulus package is also declining.
The economy grew at 5 percent in the fourth quarter last year and 3.7 percent in the first three months of 2010. But that slowed to 2.4 percent in the April-June period. That's not fast enough to generate many jobs and reduce the unemployment rate.
Many companies appear to be getting more out of their current employees rather than adding new staff. The average work week increased by one-tenth of an hour to 34.2 hours, the department said. That's up from about 33 hours in the depths of the recession.
Average hourly pay also rose 4 cents to $22.59, up 1.8 percent from a year earlier. That, along with the increase in hours worked, could provide some boost to spending.
The number of temporary jobs fell by 5,600, the first drop after nine months of gains.
Employers usually hire temp workers if they need more output but don't want to hire permanent employees. But "firms aren't even adding temporary workers right now," Gault said.
Manufacturers added 36,000 jobs in July, slightly above its monthly average this year. Those gains were aided by General Motor's decision to keep its plants running last month. Usually it closes them and temporarily lays off employees to retool for the new model year.
Construction firms cut jobs for the third straight month, losing 11,000, while financial firms shed 17,000 workers.
But retailers added 6,700 jobs. And the leisure and hospitality industry hired 6,000 additional staffers.
Corporate net income rose sharply in the second quarter, but businesses aren't yet using the proceeds to ramp up hiring. Companies in the S&P 500 index reported a 46 percent increase in net income for the April-to-June period, compared to a year earlier.
But many employers are uncertain about the direction of the economy. Some are concerned sales will slow once government stimulus and other temporary factors fade. Others fear what will happen if federal income taxes are allowed to rise next year as tax cuts enacted by President George W. Bush expire. "People have a long worry list they're looking at," said Ethan Harris, chief economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Some companies are adding permanent workers. The hospital chain HCA Inc. has 8,300 open positions, company spokesman Ed Fishbough said. That includes nurses, physicians and information technology professionals needed to build HCA's ability to handle electronic medical records. HCA employs about 190,000 people.
But layoffs are also continuing. FBR Capital Markets, an investment bank based in Arlington, Va., cut its work force by about 15 percent in early July to about 500 employees, saying it needed to reduce costs.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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