How to Put Together a Winning CV Part Two CV Layout

CV Layout: The following are the sections that should be displayed in your CV, typically in the order suggested although some variations can be incorporated, these are mentioned later in this article series, for now study the following guidelines :

CURRICULUM VITAE

James Smith
78 James Street, Smithville, JS2 9SJ
Tel no: 1111111111, Mobile: 222222222
Email: jamessmith@jamessmith.co.uk

Some Criteria before you start

- Here are some vital points that you should keep in mind as you construct and send out your CV.
- Your CV should never be more than 3 pages long. If you have just left school or university it shouldn’t be any longer than 2 pages.
- Write your CV on quality paper. Don’t get watermarked paper because most CVs get photocopied and a watermark will not show up on a photocopy.
- Don’t send a photo copy of your CV.
- Make sure that it is free of coffee stains and the paper is straight.
- Don’t fold your CV. Get an A4 size envelope to put it in even if you are handing it in personally.
- Post it first class. Second class gives the impression that you are only mildly interested in getting a job - that the job is a second priority to you.
- Your CV has to be typed, not hand written.
- Don’t use abbreviations in your CV, the person that reads it may not understand what you are talking about and you risk your CV being put in the bin.
- Don’t include funny little pictures, or quirky little symbols it isn’t a party invitation.
- Don’t lie on your CV. You will only be found out. If not at the interview then once you have started your new job, and you risk being fired. You don’t want that on your next CV. Make yourself look as good as possible but you don’t need to lie to do that.

Career Objectives

Stating career objectives in your CV gives it the required seriousness and shows you as being a focused and solved person. A career statement if written well can act as a focal point from which the employer analyses your CV. Put your career objectives or a career statement right after stating your name and contact details.

Your career objectives/statement should reflect what you intend to do with your career now and in the future.

It will give the employer an indication about your career aspirations and level of ambition and commitment to the job. However, the employers want to know what you can do for them, and not what you want from them. So make sure you keep that in mind while forming it.

For the format, you can choose to make a box around it if you want to highlight it; if that is your intention then go for it!

Here is an example of a career statement where our fictitious job hunter James Smith is looking to get an IT Project Manager’s role for a high profile company.

James Smith is a highly motivated and ambitious manager with a thorough knowledge of IT systems that has been built up over a successful 23 year period. A thorough and proven professional, James is hard working, determined and is looking for a fresh challenge that will stretch him. James has managed and delivered several large projects including a European expansion programme where James was responsible for a budget in excess of ‘$20 million.

Work History

Your work history should have a brief but precise background about where you come from. This section is dedicated to the jobs you have had in the past and the one you have now if applicable. Make sure you put your work history before your formal qualifications, if you are currently working. If you just finished studying, you should put formal qualifications first.

From the list you made earlier with all your past jobs, make a list in reverse chronological order. Specify dates, job title/position and company name. Also, provide a brief write up about your job profile, also try and incorporate your responsibilities and achievements. Look at specific examples mentioned below.

Put the date first, then the name of the company you worked for followed by your job title in bold, as follows:

01-09-date Company name Sales & Marketing Executive

After this, lay down a brief overview of your job profile and details about the responsibilities. You can put this in bulleted look to give the CV a sharp look.

Main Duties & Responsibilities ‘this is effectively the main points from your job description’
- To maximise industry sponsorship and advertising sales for company name products and services for industry and other suppliers
- Etc.

Now list down your achievements for the particular job, also in bulleted form, as follows:

Achievements
- Increased sponsorship and funding levels by 10% over a one year period
- Etc.

Put though specific and related achievements, in sync with your core responsibilities. This will show how you evolved in the organization and how it benefited the organization. This is an opportunity to show your prospective employer what you are capable of and all the success you have achieved. Too many CV’s focus on what you are responsible for rather than what you have achieved. Make sure the onus in your CV is on the latter. Employers want to see evidence that you have done a good job in the past, and this is where you lay it out for them to see.

So the work history will look like this:

DATE COMPANY NAME IT PROJECT MANAGER

Main Duties & Responsibilities
- Main duty 1
- Main duty 2
- Etc.

Achievements
- Achievement 1
- Achievement 2
- Etc.

Continue this process for the second job also. If you studied, worked at home, or anything else, and then just mention the job you did before that. If you have only one job to list, then milk it for whatever it is worth. Make sure no important detail is left out. Make sure you account for any gaps in your CV in your covering letter.

It might be something as simple as staying back home to look after your family. Don’t forget that looking after your family is a full time job and teaches you quite many invaluable lessons you can incorporate in your career.

Now, if you have a third or more jobs, you can’t follow the same approach for them, this will make your CV too long, eating up valuable space. In such a case, after you mention the date, company name and the job title, list down a few bulleted points describing your achievements.

If you have worked at more than 5 places, then you should consider grouping some together.

For example, if you had a year where you tried out a couple of jobs you may write them within the same heading and briefly explain them. Remember that, if you are over 35, you don’t necessarily need to include jobs that you took up during your school/college/university years, unless you think it will increase your chances of getting an interview.

How To Cope With Your Home Business And Your Daily Tasks.

If you’re hearing the song that Bachman-Turner-Overdrive made
famous in the 60s, that’s exactly what I want! I’m not talking
about “business” in a strictly financial sense, but “business”
with the idea that whatever you’re shooting for success-wise,
you complete your tasks.

Once you have a course plotted for success, there are going to
be a million things that will vie for your attention and time.
It’s not that these things haven’t been there before now, and
it’s not even that the world is plotting against you succeeding.
It’s just that now you have a focus and you’ll begin to notice
things that seem like they shouldn’t be on your radar screen.

It doesn’t mean that you don’t do the little pesky things that
are buzzing and want to be taken care of (especially if it
relates to your job), just that you must not let those things
pull you off-track.

So how do you stay on-task? The best way I’ve found, bar none,
is to keep a log of tasks that must be accomplished as you move
towards your goal. Remember to break the big tasks in to a
series of small ones and to give yourself a reward-system as you
do it. I use check-marks; others use stickers (sounds silly, but
if it works for you, who cares?), still others use tangible
rewards as they accomplish “x” number of small or large tasks.

Whatever motivates you is your key–keep it simple and keep it
attainable. If the carrot is too far out in front of the horse,
the horse will give up. If it’s just close enough to smell and
see but just out of reach, that horse will keep moving towards
the incentive.

Let’s say your goal is to lose 60 pounds. That’s quite a chunk
of weight and can take a long time to accomplish. Let’s also say
that you need a new wardrobe. Should you wait until all the
weight is gone to buy those new clothes? Probably not–your
current closet full of clothes will look awfully loose and
ill-fitting if you do.

But let’s talk about small, incremental rewards that help move
you towards your goal. If you lose 10 pounds, your current
clothes won’t look baggy on you, but you will notice a
difference in your waistband that might bother you. Don’t chuck
the pants or go buy a new pair–take the current ones to a
seamstress or tailor to be taken in.

It’s a small reward and saves you the money of buying new pants
that you will continue to shrink out of. It also keeps you
motivated. For the next 5 or 10 pounds, think about some new
cosmetics or a new hairstyle–small things that will make you
feel better, inside and out.

Takin’ care of business and staying on task. Now that’s the way
to chart yourself to success

With Hypnotic Weight Loss You Can Combat Your Sweet Tooth and Stop the Damaging Snacking For Good

So you have an insatiable sweet tooth? Or perhaps it’s the uncontrollable snacking that’s doing you and your diet in.

Regardless of the exact culprit, there is reliable weight loss help that doesn’t count on diet pills or self-deprivation.

This proven solution is hypnotic weight loss and making it work for you is easier than you might think!

Let’s look at exactly what hypnosis is, and how you can use hypnotic weight loss to better control your cravings and sudden snack urges, allowing you to control your diet instead of allowing it to control you!

According to the American Psychological Association Division of Psychological Hypnosis, hypnosis is a procedure during which a health professional or researcher suggests that a client, patient, or subject experience changes in sensations, perceptions, thoughts, or behavior.

Most people can undergo hypnosis for weight loss and apply these changes in their sensations, perceptions, thoughts or behaviors about food and experience very strong results.

And, this includes you!

Although scientists have different theories about the nature of hypnosis, all seem to agree that hypnotized people report changes in the way they feel, think, and behave, and that these changes are in response to suggestions implied through hypnosis for weight loss.

People vary in their degree of responsiveness to hypnotic suggestions, but most people can be hypnotized to some degree. Scientists disagree about whether hypnosis involves a special mental state. Even so, with some professional guidance, you can learn how to become hypnotized, reaping the benefits of hypnotic weight loss for many years to come.

The premise of hypnotic weight loss is that “suggestibility,” which
is related to “hypnotizability,” is a scientific concept and does not have any connotation of a weak will. Instead, suggestibility seems to be related to the capacity for using imagination and once you tap into this, those unwanted pounds are more easily shed.

Using suggestions, such as verbal or non-verbal promptings to act or think in ways the hypnotist indicates – and all in an effortless and automatic or non-voluntary manner, allows you to approach food and your eating habits with a completely new mindset.

The result: weight loss and long-term weight maintenance success.

You should know that hypnotic weight loss is most effective when you are highly motivated to overcome the problem and when the hypnotherapist is well trained in both hypnosis and in general considerations relating to the treatment of the particular problem, which, in this case, is being overweight.

Also, it is worth pointing out that some individuals seem to have a higher natural hypnotic talent and capacity that may allow them to benefit more readily from hypnosis or hypnotic weight loss.

This said, it is important to keep in mind that hypnosis is like any other therapeutic modality: it is of major benefit to some patients with some problems, and it is helpful with many other patients, but it can fail, just like any other clinical method.

This said, you certainly have a better chance at succeeding at hypnotic weight loss when you team-up with health care professionals who use hypnotic weight loss on a regular basis and who achieve a high rate of success with patients when using this method.

Before you make any decisions about hypnotic weight loss and if it is for you, you should know that a hypnotic state is not the same thing as gullibility or weakness. Unfortunately, many people base their assumptions about hypnotism on entertaining stage acts, but fail to see hypnosis as a valuable and proven tool that can help you control your worst eating habits.

So give it a try for yourself and see what you think when those unwanted pounds start melting away (and staying away)!

Don’t Just Dream; Execute By Setting Goals

Don’t Just Dream; Execute By Setting Goals

By Lynnette Khalfani
Author of The Money Coach’s Guide to Your First Million

Too many people dream of becoming a millionaire but have no real plan for how to achieve it. Well, you can’t become a millionaire just by dreaming, wanting, or wishing for wealth. As you develop the framework for your millionaire’s budget, think about planning for the future and reaching some of your bigger goals. So many times we get caught up in daily tasks and activities that we forget about setting substantive goals for the future. But in order to accrue substantial wealth, it’s essential that you write out your short-, medium-, and long-range goals. Some of you may not have thought about your own goals much lately. Perhaps your life has been consumed by your children’s world; their needs and wants always come first, and you constantly put your desires on the back burner. It’s a mistake to do that. Financially speaking, you can get yourself so wrapped up in another personâ??whether that individual is your child, partner, or parentâ??that you neglect yourself and fail to engage in smart, practical financial planning. You don’t want to look up 20 years from now and think that you should have managed your money better when you were younger.

To immediately improve how you handle your finances and make a giant leap toward becoming a millionaire, one of the most important things you can do is to write out your personal goals. This one act alone will help you build a foundation for a lifetime of wealth. If you are married or in a committed relationship, I suggest you do this exercise with your partner. Write your individual goals first, and then share your goals with the other person. Ultimately, we are all individuals with our own unique dreams and ambitions. Yet, for those of us involved with significant others, it’s crucial that you make a habit of settingâ?? and reachingâ??your goals together.

I want you to think of your goals in the context of how long it will be before these goals can be realized. Short-term goals should be something that you can accomplish in a relatively brief period of time, say in one to two years, at most. Medium-term goals can be classified as those that require two to ten years to accomplish. Long-range goals are those that require ten years or more to fulfill. To jump start your thinking, I’ve included a laundry list of goals below. Some of these may be relevant to you; others may hold no significance. The idea, however, is to give yourself permission to focus on the things you want to accomplish in the futureâ??goals you may never have acknowledged to yourself, let alone written down or verbalized to someone else. Among the goals you might pursue are:

Eliminating credit card debt.

Buying a new home.

Saving for a college education.

Investing for retirement.

Starting a business.

Establishing a cash cushion.

Paying for a wedding.

Saving for a new baby.

Purchasing a vacation home.

Traveling around the world.

Buying a boat.

Paying off student loans.

Making a large contribution to church, synagogue, etc.

Buying a new car or a second car.

One of the most important things you can do to reach your goal of becoming a millionaire is to write out your personal goals.

The Write Way

No matter what your goals, you should know that writing out your plans gives you a far better shot at making them happen. In fact, written goal-setting is a phenomenally powerful act as demonstrated by a number of high-profile cases.

A compelling example of the power of written goal-setting is represented in a 1979 survey of Harvard University students which found that 84 percent of them did not set goals. Another 13 percent of them did set goals, but didn’t bother to write them down. And only 3 percent of the graduating class had written goals and an action plan. Ten years later, researchers resurveyed the group. The 13 percent with unwritten goals were earning double the income of those with no goals. But here’s the whopper: the 3 percent of the student population with written goals earned 10 times as much as the other 97 percent!

Clearly, written goals are important. But do you realize how it is that written goals are able to propel you to reach success? Here are a few reasons why goal-setting works: |

PURPOSE: Goals give your daily and long-term actions meaning and purpose. This helps you stay motivated when you realize that you’re engaging in certain financial behaviors for a reason and not just randomly acting.

ACCOUNTABILITY: Goals also make you accountable. If you find that you’re regularly falling short of your goals, it could be that you’re not really committed to them.

STRUCTURE: Goals provide a framework or structure from which you can operate and achieve your objectives. Many of us need this structure to plug away at reaching our goals, especially long range visions.

DISCIPLINE: Goals spur you along to be consistent and disciplined in your actions since you know that a lack of discipline on your part will cause you to deviate from your plans, thereby jeopardizing your chances of hitting your goals.

SPECIFICITY: Goal-setting forces you to not just think about what you want in general terms, but to write down your aims in concrete terms. Adding the element of specificity to your goals makes you far more effective in taking the practical steps required to reach your objectives.

Written goals give you purpose, make you accountable, make your financial plan concrete, supply you with a discipline to follow, and identify specific areas to focus on.

Setting Smart Goals

Your goals have to matter to you. They have to be achievable. You want to push yourself and stretch to achieve a goal without putting it so far out of reach that you become disillusioned and give up. Remember, failure is not an option for a Millionaire-in-Training. And I believe|

that’s what you are if you’re reading this book and taking this advice seriously. I’m also a believer in setting the appropriate type of goals. SMART is an acronym that describes goals that are:

Specific

Measurable

Action-oriented

Realistic

Time-bound

Specific goals are the exact opposite of vague, hazy dreams. With the latter, someone might say, “I want to be rich,” or, “I want to save money for my kid’s college education.” Those are just general wishes, and chances are they won’t be fulfilled. But the person who sets a specific goal would define (in writing) exactly what “rich” means from his or her point of view, as in “I want to have a net worth of $5 million.” A specific goal regarding college savings might be: “I want to save $80,000 for my son’s college tuition.”

When you make goals measurable, you quantify the objective you’re seeking. In doing so, you ensure accountability and track your progress. For instance, to know where you’re going, you have to know your starting point. So if one of your goals is to have no debt, you need to know how much debt you currently have. If you add up your credit card bills and they total $20,000, then you make your goal measurable by writing down something to the effect that, “Over the next two years, I want to eliminate my $20,000 in debt.” In light of this goal, you know that after one year, if you’re staying on task, you should be able to measure your progress and find that you’ve knocked out half of your debt, or $10,000.

Action-oriented goals require you to do something, not just think about doing something. Not weigh your options. Not analyze a certain situation. Not research possibilities, and so forth. No, in |order for the goal to carry weight, you must act upon it. So let’s say you initially thought that, “I want to start a business,” was a goal. That’s far too vague. You have to amend that statement and write something along the lines of: “By the end of the month, I want to create a business plan for my new interior design business.” This way, you know you actually have to draw up the business plan. If you look up sample business plans on the Internet or investigate what lenders want in a business plan, that’s fine as a prerequisite to what you have to do. But ultimately, it’s the actual writing of your business plan that you need to accomplish.

Realistic goals are neither too ambitious nor too easy to accomplish. If you set the bar so high that it’s impossible to reach your goal, you’re only setting yourself up for failure and disappointment. By all means, make your goals challenging to reach, but be realistic in your expectations. Here’s a case in point. Let’s say one of your goals is to return to college and obtain an MBA. You already have a Bachelor of Arts degree, and you know that the MBA program you want to attend typically takes two years for the average fulltime student to complete. If you work 40 hours a week, will take courses only part time, and can study only on the weekends, don’t expect to finish the MBA program in 18 months. Given the confines of your situation, a more realistic yet still challenging goal might be: “I want to earn my MBA in two and a half years.”

Any worthwhile goal is time-bound and includes a deadline by which the goal should be met. When you include a deadline, you make your goal time-bound. Therefore, it’s not good enough to say: “I plan to buy a new home.” Instead, when writing out your SMART goal, put down something like: “Two years from now, I plan to put down a 10 percent down payment toward the purchase a $450,000 Tudor home with four bedrooms and two bathrooms.” This goal is clearly specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic for many people, and time-bound.

From The Money Coach’s Guide to Your First Million by Lynnette Khalfani; Published by McGraw Hill April 2006; ISBN: 0071470816 copyright 2006

Healthy Weight Loss Tricks

Over and over again we keep hearing the same tips about dieting and it could be helpful to get some new information and new tips for weight loss. Often it can be hard to stay motivated when on a new weight loss diet and having some new tips to guide you along can be helpful. Learn some new helpful tips to help you lose weight and to help encourage you in your pursuit of a slimmer you.

Weight Loss Trick: Taking Off 5 Quick Pounds

Maybe you are already looking good, but there are just those five extra pounds you would like to get rid of before your next date or your wedding. There is a quick way to get rid of these five pounds by cleaning out your system. If you spend the week before a big event eating vegetables and fruits and staying away from bread and pasta, while also drinking a lot of water daily you will be able to lose those five pounds. Not only will those five pounds be gone, but also you will feel energetic and will feel healthier than before.

Weight Loss Trick: Losing Pounds Without Cutting Calories

You can lose weight without going on a strict diet. You can exercise every day for about 30 minutes and begin losing weight. Not only will you burn more calories but also you will help to elevate your metabolism so you keep burning more calories even when you are not exercising. You can also have the benefits of lowered cholesterol and can help improve your circulation as well. If you walk a mile, dance for half an hour, or even play a game of baseball with your kids you can burn some calories and rev your metabolism.

Weight Loss Trick: Start Your Day the Right Way

You should never skip breakfast or try to get away with eating a quick breakfast bar because it is fast. You need to eat breakfast because this is the meal that gets your metabolism going for the day. Eating fruit and cereal is a great way to start out the day.

Weight Loss Trick: Take Your Vitamins

Eating a healthy diet is important, but even eating a healthy diet may not give you all the vitamins and minerals you need, especially if you are on a diet. You may be missing some of the nutrients that are essential to your body if you are on a diet. You can get a multivitamin that will help to supply those vitamins and minerals you need. Be sure that you get all the vitamins in your multivitamin, and you get the needed vitamin D if you go out in the sun for ten minutes every day.

Weight Loss Trick: Eat Lots of Vegetables

Many people eat a simple salad and think the have had their vegetables for the day. You need more than just salads and you should try to eat dark greens as well. You can get many of the needed vitamins and minerals you need if you eat your vegetables daily.

Probate Real Estate vs Foreclosures

Probate is the legal process by which the estate of any deceased person is validated and executed. It can be a long and costly process for the sellers. Probate validates the Will, if one exists. It pays off existing creditors and distributes the assets to heirs and beneficiaries. The reason probate real estate bargains exist is that they are a part of the estate of a deceased individual. There is no legal hassle involved in buying such property. When you acquire property that is a part of an estate, you help the beneficiaries to settle the estate via a sale of assets. All the property, furniture, stocks, bonds, real estate, cars, etc have to go through probate.

Not all beneficiaries are interested in keeping and maintaining everything they inherited. The estate might also involve people who live in another city or even another state. They may not wish to relocate just to look after or inhabit property left to them. Sometimes, a house may be willed to more than one person. In this case, the property must be sold in order to ensure that everybody gets their fair share. Most beneficiaries who decide to sell would rather sell for less money immediately, than wait for much better prices. The attorney fees keep eating away at the final gains. So, you are likely to encounter very highly motivated sellers who would appreciate your help in getting on with their lives.

Trying to make a profit in foreclosures can be quite difficult. The foreclosure business has become quite popular recently. You probably end up chasing the same foreclosures and REOs that all your competitors are after. In many areas, it is very difficult to handle the procedures, even if you are interested, because of saturation. With a probate, there is no publicity or listing and hence, very few people would actually know where to find these properties. With probates, the person who knows the market is liable to profit up to 30-50% discounts.

When buying foreclosures you are very often dealing with people who do not really want to sell the property. The homeowner doesnt trust you and he feels that you are taking advantage of his misfortune. Foreclosures involve getting the homeowners out, which is not very pleasant. People who offer the properties in foreclosure could also be bankrupt at the same time and would prefer staying in their house, rent-free and delay the procedure. They also have others knocking on their doors and calling them at all hours and realtors promising them full equity and full price.

So they see themselves with many options and may not want to talk to you. The homeowner is losing the roof over his head and in some cases, can get quite nasty. In probate, the people do want to sell and the house is very often not their primary residence. So, you end up dealing with people who are not only motivated to sell, but also not highly stressed about it.

When someone passes away, their heirs are left with a very large responsibility in the form of real estate that many don’t like dealing with. If you can offer a reasonable price, a quick sale and a simple solution, they will be more than willing to sell to you. Trying to dispose off a property far away from where they live becomes very difficult for them. In most cases, they don’t want to hold on to the property and don’t want to figure out the logistics either. This is especially true if there are bills to be paid against the estate of the deceased.

Many people who are over 65 years old defer their property tax liability. When they pass away, these deferred taxes become due. The heirs inherit this tax liability and in many cases, like to turn the property into cash at the quickest possible time, to pay these taxes and other costs like Liens or Attorney’s Fees.

How Can I Make Money With Blogs

Blogging for profit is a goal many people hope to be able to obtain. This endeavor is not out of reach for someone with a willingness to work and who has a knowledge of blogging. Very few people, however, ever obtain the profits they want from their blog because they fail to have a plan.

There are two reasons most people who try to make money with their blogs do not succeed. One reason is that bloggers often think that “if I build it, they will come”. This expectation is unrealistic. They often expect their readership to grow immediately and begin producing money just as quickly. This just does not happen. The other reason is that a lot of bloggers fail to have a realistic plan. The key to making money as a blogger is to have a realistic plan and sticking with it. When these expectations are not met, this disappointment often puts an end to their willingness to continue blogging. Some think that blogging is more “work” than they thought it would be. If you want to make money using blogs, you have to treat is as a business and a business requires work.

To be a success at earning money with blogs, you will need a lot of traffic. The more traffic that comes to your blog, the more likely you are to make sales. However, obtaining the regular visitors that you need isn’t easy. Because more blogs are started each and every day, there is a lot of competition. You need to keep your content fresh, unique, informative and interesting. Once people know that you have content on your blog that is updated regularly with useful information, they will return to your site. However, as mentioned above the “if I build it, they will come” approach just doesn’t happen.

You also have to market your blog. You can have the most interesting and informative information there ever was put on a blog, but if you don’t get visitors to your blog, who is going to read it. If you have a brick-and-mortar business, you advertise. A blog needs to be treated the same, you advertise.

You need to spend time getting your blog noticed. Take some time to visit other blogs and making a comment or visit forums related to your blog and make a post. Always be helpful and informative, and be sure to add your blog address with your signature, thereby creating a link to your blog.

If you’re an affiliate, try writing a review of the affiliate product you are marketing. You might find that it will get added to the products sales page if the review is honest and informative. Again, be sure to add your blog address with your signature.

It may take several months to build the traffic to make your blog profitable. Make a realistic plan and stick with it. To keep on track, make a daily schedule. Spend a set amount of time adding content to your blog, writing articles, visiting other blogs, visiting forums, and, if you are an affiliate, reviewing products to promote. Set a goal and when that goal is reached, set another one. Don’t set unrealistic goals as this will only discourage you. Don’t get discouraged, it takes time to build traffic to get the readers you want.

Earning money with blogs is a business. It takes time and patience to build a successful blog. It doesn’t matter if you are a marketing genius or have the best blog on the internet, success takes time. Staying motivated and setting goals will reward you with success.

Ten Ways To Increase Sales

A real estate career can be difficult for one to get started in. In the beginning, it may feel as though you are working round-the-clock, without any payoff in sight. This is simply how it will work for some. However, while the first few years in real estate may be tough, it is important to remember that whatever you do in the first couple of years will pay off in the end. The following are some tips that will help you to increase your real estate sales.

Follow Up With Leads Immediately

One of the most important things a successful real estate agent will do is to follow up on leads immediately. When someone leaves a voice mail or email to inquire about a particular property, they want answers now. If you don not call them back quickly, they will find someone else to get the answers for them. The result is the loss of a potential sale. When a lead is received, call them back immediately, even if you do not have the answers yet. If you leave them hanging, they will contact another real estate agent. In fact they probably already did contact another agent but will most likely hire the one that follows up!

Take Care of Your Past Clients

The real estate agent who ignores past clients will not get any referrals. Referrals are how a successful real estate agent becomes successful. When you take care of your past clients, they will gladly provide your name to anyone that needs the services of a real estate agent. They will also use your services again should they decide to sell their home or purchase a second home. Sending out a card on holidays or a birthday card to your past clients, as well as information on the real estate happenings in their area, and regular touches will let them know you are still available for them.

Monthly Mailings

Many successful real estate agents take the time to send out monthly mailings in the area where they want to conduct their business. The monthly mailings may consist of nothing more than a postcard offering to do a free market analysis or it may be a more elaborate letter, announcing new listings in the area, as well as offering to do a free market analysis. These monthly mailings will bring new customers. If you are choosing to market a specific area, keep in mind that to get the best results you should farm an area regularly, not just one time and expect the phone to ring off the hook. Make yourself known as the area professional through repeat exposure.

Respond to the Newspapers

If you want to reach as many prospective buyers as possible, you have to make yourself available. Here is a tip read through your local newspapers and look for Wedding and Engagement Announcements. Send to the newlyweds or newly engaged couples a congratulatory note, as well as your contact information and keep them on your list for monthly mailings. They will remember you when they are ready to purchase a home.

Branding Yourself

When you think of McDonalds, you probably first think of their golden arches. This is branding. Your job is to make sure when someone thinks of real estate, they think of you. Choose a market that you really enjoy working with, such as first-time homebuyers. Market yourself to them by choosing a logo or catchy statement. This will be provided on all your marketing materials you send out to your potential clients and first time home buyers.

Provide Testimonials

When you provide marketing material to prospective clients, include testimonials from your former clients. When you close, ask your client if they would be willing to give you a written testimonial. Most will allow you to do this and are happy to help. By providing written testimonials to your prospective clients, you are proving to them that you will provide them with quality service.

Be Organized

Being organized will help you to increase your sales. It allows you to work more efficiently and you will never have to put off a potential client because you are not sure where the information is located. When you are organized, it will show to prospective clients that you care and your abilities will shine through. Staying organized will also help you to manage your time more efficiently.

Involve Yourself in the Community

Becoming involved in the community in which you want to provide your service will allow your prospective clients to see that you care about the community where they live. It will also allow you to expand your sphere of influence and soon you will be known as the community real estate agent to call.

Open Houses

Open Houses will allow you to meet more prospective buyers and will allow the community surrounding your Open House to see how serious you take selling homes. When you do an Open House, provide materials for the potential buyers on financing, as well as information on other listings in the area.

Hold A Class For First-time Homebuyers

Offer a free class on purchasing a home and you will find many prospective buyers. Many are simply not educated in the steps that are involved in home buying. Helping prospective buyers through the process step by step will help them become a homeowner, and feel less intimidated by the process. By offering your services to them, they will follow through and you will have increased your sales.

When you start out in real estate, it is important to set both short-term and long-term goals. Be realistic when you set them and review them often. For example, set a short-term goal that you are going to send out twenty-five new mailings each month. If only one of the twenty-five contacts you and it develops into a sale, it will have all been worth it. Each person that you contact is a potential client in the future. While it may seem at times that it is slow and nothing is happening, as long as you stick to it, you will meet your long-term goals. Being consistent with your marketing and following up with leads will help you to be known in the community as the agent to call. Most importantly, you will want to remember to take time off from real estate, as well. Scheduling family time and time for yourself are important in keeping yourself motivated in real estate. It is an easy career to get caught up in the rat race, so be aware of how much time you take for yourself and your family.

The World of Writing: According to Authors Dave and Lillian Brummet

Question:

What was it like as new authors in the publishing world?

Answer:

As free-lance writers of informative articles, we had no prior
experience with book publishers. We did a lot of research and
were aware of some basic contract and publishing procedures, yet
there were many things we were not prepared for. For instance,
there was the book cover design to conceive of - which our good
friend Brian McAndrew created. The back cover text had to be
developed, an author’s bio written, photos to have taken and
lists of nearly 2 hundred contacts to sort out. The marketing
research took weeks to do, but it resulted in a 12-page plan to
ease our way. Then there were formal things like dealing with
the Library of Congress and Copyrighting. For instance, copies
of the book had to be sent to the Library of Congress at our
expense. There are rules to be aware of as well. The rights for
free use (using quotes from other people) is so gray that we
opted out of including this kind of text. Unfortunately, that
meant more editing. We were disappointed because there were some
very good quotes that would have added a great deal to the book.

Question:

What were some publishing experiences or unexpected turn of
events?

Answer:

While Lillian was browsing the Internet looking up information
on other publishers, she came upon Publish America’s website. It
inspired her to send a query in on the spot. Within 3-days we
received a request for a sample manuscript. Now, these
publishers only accept 20% of the thousands of queries that
cross their desks, so we were excited to have such a good
response in a very short time. Unfortunately, we were also
relocating our home from one part of town to another, finishing
a garden year and working as well. Time was short and stress was
high. We got that sample manuscript off in a timely fashion,
however, and we received an acceptance within a few days. The
heady sensation of signing the 7-year contract flew by us in a
blur.

Question:

What time and resources do we put in for promoting the book?

Answer:

Every day we put in 2-6 hours into some aspect of the book. The
Internet has proven to be a powerful tool where an immense
amount of information can be found from newsletters, publishers,
forums and authors. Every on-line communication we have is an
opportunity to plug our book by simply attaching an auto
signature. We developed promotional materials (flyers,
mini-posters, large posters, bookmarks, labels) and, of course,
galleys and sample packages for editors and booksellers. Most
importantly, we had a great website built for us by Brian
McAndrew of Beyond Graphix.

Question:

What did you learn in researching the book?

Answer:

We thought we were committed to the concept of the book in our
lives, but when researching and writing this book we found we
became much more motivated, more committed and more informed
about waste reduction.

Question:

As a writer, what have you learned about staying organized or
motivated?

Answer:

Having a plan of action for every project is vital. Every
project should have an outline starting from the title through
to the end. There should also be a market plan laid out. Who are
you marketing to? How you are going about it? What will you do
first? These are the most important tools of a writer. Most
people think of a writing career being one where you have lots
of leisure time and creating with words. On the contrary, most
of the time is spent marketing and organizing projects. For
instance, we might write an article and query it to a market.
That market may take a few days to get back to us, but it may
also be as long as a year before we hear from them. That article
is idle and we do not get paid until after it is published. A
writer may have hundreds of pieces of their work at various
stages of writing and marketing at one time. They need to know
where it is and its status, at a glance. We use the Excel
program to take care of this. For the book, plans were
indispensable. The market plan alone is a book in itself and
will take us years to complete. That is normal, actually. A
writer must spend much of their time promoting the book for
years after publication in order to keep sales happening.
Unfortunately, promotion and writing time are unpaid hours in
the meantime.

Question:

When do you write?

Answer:

We have to do a bit of juggling to manage our business, day job
and writing career with some kind of balance. Usually, We work
as a team, though we write separately and then conglomerate and
edit the work together. Because we share one computer, this can
be a bit of a juggle. Dave works shift work so when he is at
work or sleeping Lillian will use the computer to research and
promote.

Question:

What is your professional background?

Answer:

Dave and Lillian began their (paid) writing career working as
staff writers at Openminder Newsletter where they experienced
the harried pace of getting several articles and even feature or
interview articles ready for a by-weekly deadline. It was our
start in the writing world and plunged us head-first into the
community, interviewing unique and enterprising people. The
concept of Trash Talk was already developed and this market
snatched up the column immediately. When Openminder closed shop,
we started a free-lance career. Our articles have since appeared
in a variety of magazines including Seeds of Diversity, Country
Connection and ISKRA.

Question:

Have you won any awards or contests?

Answer:

Yes, Dave has recently won first prize in the Nature category of
BC Cottage Magazine’s 2004 Photo contest. Lillian has won
several editorial awards for her poetry and has had her work
published in 5 hardcover anthology books of poetry through
contests.

Question:

What is the most important lesson in your writing career?

Answer:

Research. If you know something is coming up, research it and
make a plan of action well ahead of time. If we did not start
the market plan and develop a plan of action and estimated
schedule soon after finding out the manuscript was accepted, we
would have never been ready for the myriad of work ahead of us,
much of which is time-sensitive. Doing it right is essential -
there is but little chance to make an impression with a
reviewer, reader or publication. Even with the best of
preparation you will be caught off guard or unprepared. Don’t
sweat it too much if you make a mistake. Think of it as a lesson.

Question:

Have you any advice for new writers?

Answer:

We hate to sound redundant, but again, do your research. Join
forums and research the previous messages for several months
ago. You will find many novice questions are thoroughly answered
with many different people contributing ideas and opinions.
Always research your market and query them in a professional
manner before sending a finished product.

Keeping Affiliates Motivated and Selling

Running an affiliate program is becoming easier and easier with
all of the software and help available now. But keeping your
affiliates motivated and selling isn’t quite so easy. If the
success of your business rests on how well your affiliates do,
you need to make sure that you provide your affiliates with the
right tools to get the job done. This may take some time and
effort on your part in the beginning - but it is an investment
in time and effort that will greatly pay off in the end.

If you are already running an affiliate program for your product
or service, you know that a great number of people sign up for
your program, never to be heard from again. You can reduce the
number of unproductive affiliates you have by staying in touch
with them constantly. Remind them of their usernames and
passwords. Tell them again where to log in to check their stats
or to get creatives. Keep them informed about new product lines
or changes in policies or procedures. Keep them up to date on
related news.

Just make sure that you stay in touch. Pay attention to who your
top sellers are, and make sure to contact them personally on a
regular basis. Also pay attention to who your worst producers
are, and stay in touch with them constantly as well.

One reason that most affiliates don’t perform well is that they
don’t have any leadership or guidance. You can easily change
this by writing a marketing course. You can even offer it for
sale to non-affiliates. But make it available to your affiliates
free of charge. If you don’t want to write a course, see about
buying master resell rights to a course that has already been
written, and make that available free of charge to your
affiliates. It doesn’t matter what method you use, as long as
you tell them how to market the product. Provide them with sales
copy and creatives. Keep the information up-to-date, and request
feedback and input from your affiliates. Set up a support forum
where they can come together to share ideas and learn new
things. You might also consider forming sales teams - small
groups of affiliates who meet on a regular basis, share ideas,
and keep each other motivated.

Keep your sales copy and creatives up-to-date. Provide new
material for your affiliates to use on a regular basis. Just
providing them with a text link and one banner doesn’t generate
much excitement. Provide them with sales letters, testimonials,
reviews, ads, banners of varying sizes and shapes, and anything
else you can think of. Make sure that your affiliates know the
new material is there for their use. Listen to your affiliates,
and get feedback on your sales material.

Hold Virtual Meetings. Set up a chat room where your affiliates
can attend a virtual meeting on a monthly or quarterly. Answer
questions, give away ‘door prizes’, have motivational ’speakers’
and anything else that you can think of to make the meetings
informative and enjoyable. Remember Amway? Have you ever been
invited to one of those meetings? The point of the meeting is to
inspire your affiliates - get them so excited about your product
or service, that they can’t wait to get out there and tell the
world! Hold contests for your affiliates. Make the prizes
worthwhile. Award a first, second, third, and grand prize for
the highest sales in a given time period. Contests are great
motivators.

Give your affiliates the recognition that they deserve. Every
month, in your affiliate newsletter, give recognition to the
best performers. Give them small bonuses. You could also set up
a payment structure that awards higher commissions for a higher
volume of sales.

Do everything that you can to make sure that your affiliates are
succeeding and making money in your program. If they are
succeeding and making money - your are succeeding and making
money as well! Their success really is your success