Want a Loan? A Sale? A Job?

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.”

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.

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.

Recovery in jeopardy without upturn in job, housing markets

Slowing economy faces major hurdles

by John W. Schoen Senior producer
msnbc.com
As the engine of U.S. economic growth slows, two of its main cylinders — job growth and consumer spending — still aren't firing. Until they kick in, the sluggish recovery will remain in jeopardy.

After a surge in growth late last year fueled by massive government spending, the economic recovery has been losing momentum. On Friday, the Commerce Department reported that Gross Domestic Product, the value of all goods and services produced in the U.S. rose by 2.4 percent in the second quarter .

That’s down from a revised 3.7 percent growth rate in the first three months of the year, and less than the 3 percent growth many economists had been forecasting just a few weeks ago.

Other data point to signs that growth slowed toward the end of the April-June quarter. Housing sales tanked after a government tax credit expired in April, and the job market weakened in June after showing signs of strength earlier in the year. That has many forecasters further ratcheting down expectations for the second half of the year.

“With stimulus spending winding down … it looks like expectations for the third quarter will be reduced,” said Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities. “It looks like most folks will be coming in with a forecast for GDP in the current quarter that is under two percent."

Vitner said that would put the economy close to a double-dip recession, in which growth slips back into negative territory after a couple of quarters of expansion.

The hope has been that as the impact fades from the government's $862 billion package of tax cuts and increased public spending, that massive stimulus will carry over to the rest of the economy. Friday’s report offered some optimistic signs that may be happening.

Business investment up

Investment in plant and equipment by businesses picked up by 17 percent in the second quarter, boosted by heavy spending on new equipment and software. Businesses have also reported strong profit growth for the quarter, as heavy cost-cutting sends more money to the bottom line. That kind of gradual improvement could lay the groundwork for a sustainable recovery.

"The longer that we heal, the more likely it is that we'll continue to heal and start to see more robust growth maybe in 2011,"said James Paulsen, chief strategist at Wells Capital Management.

But that won’t happen until businesses move from cost-cutting to hiring. Until millions of new jobs are created to replace the more than 8 million paychecks lost to the recession, consumers won’t be able to restore spending to levels that will keep the economy growing.

“We’re in a classic chicken and egg situation,” said Ed Keon, a portfolio manager at Quantitative Managing Associates. “You need to get a firmer labor market — when companies are hiring and putting some their cash to work — in order to increase consumer confidence. But business people need to see demand before they can go crazy about expanding and hiring more people.”

For the moment, consumers don’t appear to be feeling better about the outlook. Friday’s GDP report showed consumer spending grew by 1.6 percent in the second quarter, down from 1.9 percent in the first quarter.

"Overall, the survey data suggest that the current slowdown in spending is likely going to persist well into 2011," said Richard Curtin, director of the surveys.

Housing mired

Other sectors of the economy have yet to show increased momentum from the government’s stimulus spending. Despite two rounds of a generous home buyer tax credit, the housing industry, which typically leads economic recoveries, remains mired at low levels of demand not seen in decades. Persistently low mortgage rates have also failed to spur the kind of pickup in home sales seen in past economic recoveries.

The financial collapse that caused the recession has also left an aftermath that is not typically seen in most recoveries. Homeowners are still struggling to pay down debt and make up for heavy losses in home equity suffered when the housing bubble burst. Prices in many parts of the country are still falling.

Businesses, uncertain about where the economy is headed, are hoarding cash. Despite an unprecedented Federal Reserve policy holding interest rates near zero, credit is tight.

“The fundamental picture of the economy is quite different than any other business cycle,” said David Ressler, chief economist at Nomura Securities. “We're not going to see a snapback in many sectors; housing is going to crawl back.”

The risk that businesses and consumers most fear is that the economy slides back into recession again, sending unemployment higher and profits lower. So far, most forecasters say the odds of that happening are less than 50-50.

Growth forecasts

Some two-thirds of economists surveyed last month by the National Association of Business Economists said they expect the overall growth rate will top 2 percent in 2010. A separate survey of private economists by Blue Chip Economic Indicators came up with a consensus forecast of 3.1 percent growth in 2011.

But the extraordinary causes of this recession bring extraordinary risks that go beyond the possible double-dip scenario. One of the most disturbing was outlined this week in a paper by James Bullard, president of the St. Louis Fed.

With inflation barely visible in the past few months data, Bullard warned the dangers of deflation — when prices tumble either because of a collapse of spending, a decline in the money supply, or both — pushing the U.S. economy into the kind of long-term, downward price spiral that has plagued Japan for more than a decade.

So far, the weak economy has produced the kind of low levels of inflation that the textbooks predict. The risk, Bullard argues, is that the policy the Federal Reserve has been using — targeting low interest rates to stimulate growth — could be steering the central bank toward the very deflation cycle that policymakers are hoping to avoid.

Bullard suggests that the central bank consider returning to a policy known as “quantitative easing” involving massive purchases of government debt to pump more cash into the economy to try to reflate the economy.

In an interview with CNBC Friday, Bullard stressed that he doesn’t see signs yet that deflation is taking hold.

“If the economy continues to recover in the second half of the year and we're growing really rapidly, then this will all go away and we'll all forget about it,” he said. “But that's not the nature of contingency planning. You have to be ready for the opposite case.”

© 2010 msnbc.com Reprints

Many fear job loss, but have no savings for it

45 percent could not cover expenses for more than a month without job
by Allison Linn Senior writer
msnbc.com
updated 7/26/2010 4:29:11 PM ET

Despite being warned for years to save, almost half of Americans face the worst-case scenario if they are laid off: out of work and out of money.

Forty-five percent of Americans surveyed by insurer MetLife said they could not pay their bills for more than a month if they lost a job, and 65 percent said they couldn’t cover their expenses for three months.

Though they lack a financial cushion, many Americans are fearful that they could find themselves out of work. The 2010 MetLife Study of the American Dream, conducted from April 14 to 21 and released Monday, found that 55 percent of Americans are concerned they will lose their job.

As the nation struggles to recover from the worst recession since the Great Depression, those fears are clearly warranted. As of June, 9.5 percent of American workers, or 14.6 million people, were out of work, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. About half of those workers, of 6.8 million people, had been jobless for six months or more.

Despite such grim statistics, MetLife researchers saw glimmers of hope in the survey results. Beth Hirschhorn, senior vice president of global brand and marketing services for MetLife, said the figures actually showed an improvement over last year, when 50 percent of Americans said they could not go more than a month without a paycheck.

“The only silver lining is that people have taken notice and they’re making changes,” Hirschhorn said.

In general, she said this year’s study showed that Americans were most action-oriented than a year earlier, and more focused on financial responsibility. Three-quarters of Americans reported that they had cut spending, and more people said that being financially responsible was key to achieving the American dream.

“A year ago more people were talking about what they were going to do,” she said. “Now, we see that they have done things.”

The bank of family

Still, millions of Americans are struggling financially, and the MetLife survey showed that families are taking up the slack. Nearly half of those surveyed said they had given money to a family member so they could pay their bills.

Hirschhorn said the results show that a huge number of Americans are relying on “the national bank of family” just to stay afloat.

“This lending is lifeline lending,” said

William M. Rodgers, professor of public policy at the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University, said one reason many Americans haven’t been able to save for a potential job loss is because they came into the recession still struggling from the weak economy of 2000 and 2001.

“When we entered this recession back in December of 2007, Americans were probably the most vulnerable they’ve ever been before,” Rodgers said.

Still, Rodgers said he also is seeing evidence that the recession has been a wake-up call.

“It’s forced us, in many ways, to change our priorities. It’s forced us to recognize that we can’t live beyond our means,” he said.

Even though many Americans want to change their spending habits, progress is expected to be slow. That’s because many continue to deal with relatively high debt levels, a weak economy and a feeling that just covering the basic necessities continues to get more expensive.

“They’re trying to dig themselves out of such a deep hole,” Hirschhorn said.

© 2010 msnbc.com Reprints

Social Media's Role in the Job Search

Knowing when traditional tools are better

By Anthony Balderrama, CareerBuilder.com writer

The Internet has significantly changed how we carry out many everyday tasks. We don't have to receive bills in the mail or go to the bank to check our account balances. Hop online and almost everything we want to do is at our fingertips. Online job hunting has replaced flipping through the newspaper want ads to find that elusive open position.

Another significant addition to the Internet is social media. Social networking sites have suddenly put us in touch with long-lost friends or helped us make new ones. They're like class reunions and dating services rolled into one. And now they've become professional tools, too. You can use your online profile to display your work history and skill set.

As great as these advances are, some people fail to understand that new isn't always better. Sometimes older, more traditional methods are better than the newer, flashier ones. It's something that plenty of job seekers need to realize when they're looking for work and professionals should think about when using their profiles to network.

The job seeker's friend ... and foe

When looking for work, the biggest drawback to social media is the virtual paper trail you might leave. Attorney Robin Bond reminds job seekers that how you interact with friends is probably not how you interact with a boss or even co-workers, so make sure your professional side is what people see.

"Use separate sites for business and personal contacts," Bond advises. "If you were having a party, it's unlikely you'd invite all your party pals to the same event where you were entertaining your boss and work colleagues." For that reason, take advantage of professional networking sites like LinkedIn and BrightFuse for displaying your skills to potential business contacts and employers.

Keep the more irreverent profiles on a separate site and out of the hands of employers. Even then, Bond cautions against posting potentially damaging photographs because it is the Internet and nothing is entirely private.

"If you think your mom would be embarrassed by something you post, then think twice about posting it," he says.

Naturally, the visibility that could ruin your career could also be what gives you one in the first place. David Gammel, author of "Online and On Mission: Practical Web Strategy for Breakthrough Results," sees the value in social media's prominence when used for good.

"If you have posted lots of content under your identity that enhances your qualifications, it will show up high in search results and benefit how you are perceived," Gammel says. "If that content is unprofessional or otherwise at odds with the job you are pursuing, it may stop you in your tracks."

Although social media are an asset, they have yet to become the definitive way to land a position, he says.

"The best way to find a new job is still through a personal referral from someone who trusts you to someone who trusts them," Gammel says. "Social media might be used for communicating, but it won't create that trust. Good old-fashioned relationships will do that."

Remember the 'network' in social network

For professionals who already have a job, and for those who are considering a career move, social media can supplement traditional networking methods. They don't replace them, but they offer new opportunities alongside them.

"I think the biggest problem is that people treat social media and 'the real world' as if they are two separate modes of contact all too often," says Sam Ford, director of customer insights for communications agency Peppercom Inc. "The best answer is to use a combination of the two when searching for jobs, building relationships with potential employers, building out your network, etc. In my own network and in dealing with job prospects, I've found that a combination of the two makes all the difference in the world."

That amalgamation can add another dimension to an otherwise dull online experience.

"I find myself wanting to connect with people on Twitter [and] accepting LinkedIn connections particularly if we've had a strong face-to-face or phone conversation in the past," Ford says. He found that the online component enriches the relationship and wouldn't have occurred had they never interacted in a traditional way first.

Ultimately, what job seekers and professionals interested in networking need to remember is that business doesn't exist only online or face-to-face. Technology is part of everyday business and there are people behind those Tweets and profiles, so you should remember to make both new and traditional methods part of your networking practices.

Anthony Balderrama is a writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com and its job blog, The Work Buzz. He researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/abalderrama.

Copyright 2009 CareerBuilder.com All rights reserved. The information contained in this article may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without prior written authority.

Best States for Business (and jobs)-

From the Professional Insurance Agents(PIA) newsletter, July 19,2010 edition


Texas Tops List

CNBC does an annual survey of the best states for

business. Texas tops this year’s survey. Here are the

top-10 states:

1. Texas

2. Virginia

3. Colorado

4. North Carolina

5. Massachusetts

6. Iowa

7. South Dakota

8. Minnesota & Utah — tie

9. Georgia

Last year’s winner was Virginia. The two states swap the top spot every year. Texas was

top in 2008. Virginia was number one the first year of the survey in 2007.

These are the categories used to select the top states:

• Cost of Doing Business — 450 point

• Workforce — 350 points

• Quality of Life — 350 points

• Economy — 314 points

• Transportation & infrastructure — 300 points

• Technology & innovation — 250 points

• Education — 175 points

• Business friendliness — 175 points

• Access to capital — 50 points

• Cost of living — 25 points

According to the survey Alaska is bottom state for business. A high cost of living, high

cost of doing business and lack of infrastructure are the reasons.

Here is the bottom four:

1. Alaska

2. Rhode Island

3. Hawaii

4. Nevada

California and Hawaii are the most expensive states to live in and New York has the

highest cost of doing business.

Here is how the nine PIA Western Alliance states did in the survey:

15. Washington

18. Arizona

23. Oregon

26. Idaho

32. California — tied with Arkansas

36. Montana

38. New Mexico

47. Nevada

50. Alaska