How to Look Good on Paper
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About this ebook
What do companies get when they get you?
The job market has become exponentially more competitive than it was 10 years ago. Personal branding is now a non-negotiable part of the job hunting experience. That’s true for job seekers and entrepreneurs alike. Never has it been more important to know how to create a marketing package that sells your skill set; never has it been more important for you to know how to build a social profile that supports your professional brand.
This book will teach you how to capitalize on your talent, skill set and experience so you land more jobs and get more contracts. Whether you’re entering the job market for the first time, re-careering, starting a business or just sprucing up your professional image, you can use this guide to help you:
* Identify and articulate what you have to offer
* Write cover letters that get your resume read
* Write resumes that demonstrate your professional value
* Create bios that help shape your brand in the minds of clients
* Build a social presence that helps solidify your position as an expert
Learn what you need to know to look good on paper including:
* The rules of this New Economy
- - - - > Get stats and figures on employment trends
- - - - > Get up to speed on new ideas versus the old ideas
* How to leverage your work history
- - - - > Use odd jobs and bad jobs to your advantage
- - - - > Learn how to pull the gold nuggets out of your various on-the-job experiences
* How to brand yourself without going crazy
- - - - > How to create a targeted, branded resume
- - - - > The do’s and don’ts of social media
* Practical application
- - - - > Complete questionnaires that help you zero in on what’s important
- - - - > Learn when and how to use your various professional experiences to add value to your brand
- - - - > Find your audience
How to Look Good on Paper is the fourth book in The Wily Mompreneur how-to book series for women. This short guide will help you answer the question on the mind of every potential client or employer: “How can you help me?”
It’s time to shine.
Sorilbran Stone
There is something to be said for having a distinctive voice that can pierce through the incessant chatter. For Sorilbran, fearless transparency and the ability to deliver ideas stamped with her particular brand of urban geek has paved the way for yet another career for this serial entrepreneur. Sorilbran Stone is an Atlanta-based information professional who earns her living as a ghost writer. Originally a Detroit native, Sorilbran began what she calls her “professional training” in the HR department of a Fortune 500 Company in the late 1990s. It was there that she was introduced to the term “restructuring” and the idea that there was no such thing as job security. With that understanding, she quickly acquired the skill set and confidence to venture out on her own. Over the years, Sorilbran has run companies in various industries including construction, retail, entertainment and the beauty industry. As well, she has invested a significant portion of her free time helping would-be entrepreneurs to organize and start businesses of their own. Sorilbran has found a way to convert nearly two decades of first-hand small business entrepreneurial experience into effective and practical home business strategy. She has ghostwritten several books, and regularly delivers digital content under her own name. She is the author of The Wily Mompreneur productivity book series and writes on personal and professional development topics specifically targeted at women. Sorilbran has written for Uptown Magazine and Profit Blog. Other digital credits include ownership of several blogs, including The Wily Writer; two content licensing sites – PLR Geek and Ghsotwritten eBooks; and droves of ghostwritten projects on Amazon, Smashwords, websites and other digital platforms. In 2014, Sorilbran published the first two eBooks from The Wily Mompreneur how-to book series, “70 Cool Home Businesses: For Women Who Think Outside the Box” and “How to Look Good on Paper.” Sorilbran is a mother of three and award-winning musician. As for the moniker urban geek she says: “People need information and strategy so I’ve nominated myself the local Information Robin Hood. The geek in me synthesizes concepts and ideas. The sista in me spits it out in a way that folks can understand and apply what they’ve learned.” Sorilbran’s upcoming projects include The Wily Mompreneur resource website, the launch of an online magazine, two more eBook titles for The Wily Mompreneur book series and two fiction eBooks. Connect with Sorilbran on LinkedIn, follow @SorilbranS on Twitter and visit the Wily Mompreneur Books page on Facebook.
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Book preview
How to Look Good on Paper - Sorilbran Stone
How to Look Good on Paper
By Sorilbran Stone
Copyright Sorilbran Stone 2012-2014
Smashwords Edition
Introduction
Greetings.
If this is your first time reading one of my eBooks, I’m glad you have found it worthwhile to consider my voice amongst the chatter.
By way of introduction, I’m Sorilbran Stone, an Atlanta-based writer, serial entrepreneur and mother. Over the course of my career as an entrepreneur, I have had the opportunity to work side-by-side with a seemingly never-ending succession of business owners and career seekers from various backgrounds. I’ve helped C-level executives find the right words to sell their ideas and I’ve helped ex-cons bring a fresh perspective to an old resume in order to start a new chapter in their lives. I know from experience that sometimes a new start is just a matter of better packaging.
You deserve to shine. In fact, you’re commanded to shine. But putting your best foot forward isn’t always intuitive. This handy guide will provide some tips, tricks and a little help getting you in the right mindset.
I wish you well.
-Sorilbran
Welcome to the New Economy
The Importance of Creating a Professional Brand
Defining Your Professional Brand
How to Create Your Own Branded Materials
Packaging Counts
Final Words
References
Welcome to the New Economy!
The Dilemma
Depending on where you fall on the generational timeline, your perception of the New Economy will vary. If you are a Baby Boomer, you may be a bit sentimental about the good old days of job security
you enjoyed during the Industrial Age. On the other hand, if you’re a Millennial who grew up in the Information Age, your limited experience in the workforce may have you wondering what’s so new about this economy. Isn’t this the same economy we’ve always had?
Let me answer that for you. No. It isn’t.
Case in point, my Boomer aunt is completing a STEM-focused undergraduate program at the local university. My daughter, a college freshman, is also pursuing a STEM track in college. Several of my thirty-something year-old relatives and friends are also taking online courses to complete undergraduate coursework in STEM disciplines. When these women complete their degrees, they will have similar bodies of knowledge. Their qualifications will essentially be the same. What, then, will employers use to determine which woman is the best candidate for the job?
Whether you’re aiming to impress a potential employer or woo a new customer, your mission is the same. In order to successfully position yourself in the job market or in your particular industry, you need to be able to communicate your value on paper.
The national unemployment rate for February 2014 was 6.4% for women over the age of 16, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In markets like Carson City, NV where the unemployment rate still hovers around 10%, there are bound to be multiple applicants competing for each open position.
Keep this in mind: The number of applicants competing for a position will increase as the specialized skills needed to perform a job decrease.
So that means if you’re an administrative professional currently out of work, it’s quite possible that you will be competing with dozens of other candidates for every open position to which you apply. How do you set yourself apart? How do you get and keep the attention of the hiring manager?
How to Use This Guide
This book is designed to give you a crash course in self-positioning. Whether you are looking for a new full-time position or expand your own small business, it’s essential that you learn how to set yourself and your business apart from your competitors. This book and the materials included along with this book contain executable strategies, quick tips and great tools to help give you establish your brand, communicate your value, position you in the market and grab the advantage over your competitors.
Positioning Yourself in the New Economy
It very well may be that Napoleon Hill first made a case for self-positioning in his classic book Think and Grow Rich (read this book; you can buy it from Amazon for a few bucks, if not a few pennies). The idea resurfaced and took hold of the American consciousness in the early 1980s with the book Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries and Jack Trout. In that book, the idea of positioning was specifically applied to career advancement. In 1997, Tom Peters cemented the idea of ‘personal branding’ in a Fast