How Volunteering Has Changed My Life By Leilani Gushiken

I left my job almost 6 months ago.  I didn’t know what I would do next, only that I was completely burned out and in need of a career change.  Problem was that I wasn’t exactly sure what kind of job or career path would be right for me.  Over the past few years I had been volunteering my weekends at various organizations, so when I found myself with a surplus of free time I realized donating time could prove to be more then just an opportunity to feel good about helping others, it could be the answer to my career quandary.

First off, I signed up to FoodForward.org to do a few citrus picks.  While swinging through the trees, collecting oranges and grapefruits, I was able to “interview” my fellow pickers.  There were lawyers, property managers, e-commerce entrepreneurs, and event planners, all careers that I was moderately interested in but had not known anyone to ask the simple questions that I was curious about, such as,  “How did you get your job?  What is a day in your life like?  What kind of education do you need?  Do you like what you do?”  Sure the answers for all of those questions can be found on the web, but it’s so much more personal to get answers from real-life professionals.

The next round of volunteer work was for Coastal Cleanup Day, where I spent a day at the beach picking up trash.  It was completely disgusting, but again worthwhile.  One of the women working along side me, was an HR representative for a major corporation.  Over the course of the day, I explained my quest to find a new career, we exchanged emails and a few weeks later I was brought in for a general interview.   Who would have thought that a day of picking trash would lead to getting my foot in the door for a possible future job? 

Lastly, I had been considering trying to get work as an event planner, but had very few connections or knowledge of how to get a break.  So, I volunteered to produce the award show for an independent videogame festival (for free!) in exchange for a resume point.  The event was a lot of work, but turned out to be a huge success.  And all the late nights, time and energy that I put into the show ended up paying off when the CEO of the festival offered me future events (for money!) and recommended me to her friends for their events. 

So let’s review.  Volunteer work equals: 1) Opportunities for networking.  2) The chance to meet people in other career fields.  3) Resume-building points.  4) Job opportunities.  5) Most importantly: The amazing feeling you get when you know you’ve helped someone else.

Leilani Gushiken is an events planner, writer, world traveler and frequent volunteer.  You can reach her at http://www.linkedin.com/in/leilanigushiken

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Print Media is a dying newsform by Rob Bedell

Newspapers are dying in the current format! I know because I have built and restructured newspapers most of my career before starting my own company. I worked for the largest weekly and daily newspapers, i.e. New Times, Tribune, Knight-Ridder. The main reason they are failing is that they fight technology instead of embracing it. They keep saying that print will never go away and hang their hat on the revenue levels still increasing, which is foolish and has shown not to be true.

While I agree that there will always be a print portion of newspapers because people like the feel of a physical publication, most of the people today get their news online. Newspaper groups need to figure out how to capitalize on the online market and monetize it. It’s not that hard, but they are afraid of what it will do. I’ll give you an example of this and why they are foolish on not pushing more online.

I worked for CareerBuilder and oversaw all newspapers on the west coast. The L.A. Times was one of my newspapers. The did not want to push the online job listings and fought with me, not letting me help them sell more. I finally had a meeting with the Ad Director, Classified Director and Recruitment Ad Manager and asked why. They said that it would bastardize their print revenues and they would lose money. I sat at one of their computers and asked them for three of their biggest clients. After getting them, I went on Monster.com and typed in the companies names. Each company had a bunch of ads on Monster. I told them they were already losing money, but instead of it going back into their pockets, it went to another company. Needless to say, the top management blew a fuse when they saw this. They then worked with me and became a top producing newspaper, selling online.

Newspapers need to do this for all of the advertisers. They need to create a solid market place for the advertisers and then they will be able to support the print aspect of the business. There are tons of things that they can do, but I think they are still hiding behind the fear of losing money from their main product. They need to understand that they are already losing month and if they don’t act soon, they’ll lose it all.
Magazines will take less of a hit because most have niche audience and are printed less frequently. If they can add a solid online component, they will lose less, but they will survive better than the newspapers

Rob Bedell – Bedell Media & Consulting www.bedellmediaconsulting.com

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What’s the new retirement age? By John Olson

My resounding answer to this question is yes and the reason is fairly straightforward. Age 65 is becoming less and less relevant as a meaningful retirement date in light of better health care and a resulting longer life expectancy. The Social Security Administration (SSA) has already showed us this trend as the “Full Retirement Age” to receive unreduced benefits is now as late as age 67 for people born on or after 1960. In fact, my prediction is that sooner rather than later the Social Security Full Retirement Age will be age 70, probably for those born on or after the year 2000.

Historically, retirement at age 65 originated in the late 1800’s in Germany with Otto von Bismarck simply choosing that number probably because few people actually reached that age. Years later in 1935 in the United States, FDR’s “New Deal” included the origin of the Social Security system. Even then, while age 65 was the retirement date, life expectancy was only 61.7 years. Again, few lived much past age 65 to collect their monthly checks.

Fast forward to today where life expectancy is now about age 78. This means an average of 13 years of benefit checks for a growing number of people which is made even worse (for the Social Security Administration as payer) by additional benefit amounts through cost of living (COLA) increases each year. While COLA amounts have been zero for a few years, they are likely to resume again soon.

 Health care advances will surely continue and life expectancies will edge upward putting more economic pressure on the Social Security System to make more total payments to retired workers. Congress will never vote to cut Social Security benefits so the “back door” method to reduce total costs is to increase the retirement age. This works because even though you can still receive benefits at age 65, the amounts are reduced if your Full Retirement Age is later than 65, like 66 or 67 (or even 70).

In summary, people are healthier at age 65 than ever before in our countries history. As a result, they are living longer so the old notions of retirement at a fixed age of 65 are changing too – most likely in an upward manner.  

To help with financial planning concepts, I have a book coming out in the Spring of 2011 called “Square One – Financial Planning a Few Minutes at a Time” which will include details of the new “retirement math”. 

John A. Olson, CFS, CLU, CRPC

LPL Financial

Charlton, MA

http://www.linkedin.com/in/johnarthurolson

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RECRUITING AND RETAINING TOP TALENT by John Meeker

The most critical part of recruiting is to identify top talent, not only for the immediate open position but for other roles that will emerge over time. I found in my experience with managing academic, business and nonprofit organizations, the recruiting process must link with retention strategies.

TO RECRUIT TOP TALENT, I RECOMMEND:

• Define requirements of immediate role, project potential future roles, and define best fits for immediate and longer term organizational needs
• Among the finalist pool, develop an in-depth understanding of strengths and motivators for each candidate.  The key variables to understand prior to making an offer are:
  • Strengths to lead. (Consider using www.strenghsfinders.com  for assessment.)
  • Satisfiers essential for the candidate to accept the position (John Meeker for tools.)
  • Energizers to sustain engagement.  (John Meeker for resources.)
  • Drivers crucial for purposeful life and whole heartedness. (See Daniel H. Pink, DRiVE)

CHALLENGES TO RETAIN TOP TALENT:

Organizations are at an increasing risk that their top talent will accept other opportunities.  Leaders at all levels have extended themselves to “get the job done” through difficult economic times.  Working at full throttle for too long has negative consequences regardless of seniority of the employee.   

And as there are indications of modest increases in hiring, top talent is highly visible to competitors and other organizations that will offer to provide a better array of motivators.  Recent research by Execunet (www.execunet.com) and recent experience from my own national search practice reveals more openness among top talent to consider options, including even those that require relocation.

ESSENTIALS TO RETAIN TALENT, I RECOMMEND:

• With your top talent, frequently review how to better maximize their strengths, satisfy essential professional needs, energize engagement, and support drivers for life values. These will change over time. Staying current on these motivators are essential to retaining top players on your team.
• Encourage volunteering and leadership with outside organizations. (See article by Amy Psaris and John Meeker, “Career Development through Volunteering” at www.johnmeeker.com). The benefits of volunteering include: 1) collaborating with and learning from other leaders; 2) gaining fresh perspectives; 3) contributing to causes that contribute to the life purpose of your employee. 
• Focus on top talent making a difference with the 20% of resources that have the capability to produce 80% of results.   This is far more productive and energizing for leaders than focusing on the opposite proportion and the benefits to the organization are obvious.
• To recruit and retain top talent, I urge you to discover how to provide a professional environment in which your talented employees find wholeheartedness in what they do professionally and personally.

For another article on retention by John Meeker, see “Retaining Quality Staff” in Blackbaud’s national newsletter to nonprofit industry Fiscal Fitness.  See links at www.johnmeeker.com.

John Meeker is President and Founder of Meeker Search and Consulting, a retention consulting, search practice specializing in leadership positions, and an advisory firm for executives transitioning to new career stages.

John Meeker, PhD

Meeker Search and Consulting

952 921-3262, Minneapolis office

john@johnmeeker.com

www.johnmeeker.com

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/john-meeker/8/3ab/168

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Is Your Industry the “Coolest”?

Daniel Sawyer Detoni

by Daniel Sawyer Detoni

It’s hard to find people who adore their jobs, and people who admit to loving their industry as a whole? Just as hard. Plus—especially in this economy—it’s not something you read about every day, but when Easy Creatives was asked to chime in, we did! We love our jobs, and we think that marketing is a particularly cool industry to get into.

If you love networking and you’re looking for something new, find a position in marketing that keeps you on your toes. Since you can combine creativity with social media opportunities in many projects, you get to take more risks at work than others. You have to be fast-acting, though, if your plans don’t pan out—and you need to be one of those people who is “always connected.” If you only like checking your email once a day and you don’t have a Twitter account, you might want to study up first.

Ready to get going? If you want to start in marketing, an internship is one of the best ways to learn the ropes. Try to find one at a company that’s looking to grow, so you can take advantage of entry-level opportunities. Don’t get into marketing if you are easily discouraged or thin-skinned, and don’t pass up internships in exchange for college credit if you’re a student.

Have any career questions, or want to market your business, product, or service? Contact us at Easycreatives.net.

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Starting a startup by Gail Margolies Reid

How does someone go about starting and funding a startup company?  First, start with an idea around which you can build a business.  For many entrepreneurs, the idea is born through a personal passion, a desire for wealth and opportunity to build something of their own and a skill set they have already developed working for others as an employee.  The problem with most startups is that people get so excited about their ideas they dive right in without doing their homework.  The more you do on the front end of a start-up the more likely you are to create something of value.

Here are four recommendations that will make the difference between success and failure for your business:

1)     Knowledge is power. Most startup ideas come from an entrepreneur’s personal perception of a gap in the marketplace.    It is critical to confirm that there is a market in the gap.  To find out if others will pay for your product or service use simple market research techniques such as surveys of prospective customers and focus groups of friends and family. Educate yourself about the industry by reading articles on the Internet, contacting various industry associations, even attending conferences and trade-shows.  Educating yourself before you launch your startup will make not only help you succeed but hasten the speed of your progress.

2)   Build relationships within your industry.  Get to know the competition.  A clear understanding of what similar companies offer will help you identify unique ways to differentiate yourself in the marketplace.  Contact several potential competitors.  Most entrepreneurs love to talk about their businesses, and will share keys to success as well as mistakes to avoid.  If there is an appropriate industry association in your area, attend a meeting and join if you can glean real value from being a member.

3)    Plan. Put together a simple cash flow projection.  This is just like a personal budget.  The tricky part is estimating your income before you actually get started.  Create three scenarios – best, likely and worst case based on your research and discussions with the competition.  Once you see the potential bottom line, you will be able to set goals.  In order to track your progress, you will have to keep good records and stay on top of your numbers.  All of these action steps are important if you are going to be successful.

4)   Identify funding sources.  Most startups use bootstrapping, the reinvestment of their profits, to fund their businesses.  Personal savings, small loans from family and friends, or even a credit card or home equity line of credit are the most realistic sources of capital for a new business.  If you start out small, there will be less need for funding. This minimizes your downside if it takes longer than expected to become profitable.

Statistically, 50% of all startups will ultimately close their doors within the first five years of launching.  Be a part of the 100% solution.  You can ensure your success by following these basic rules of engagement.

Gail Margolies Reid, CPA is the author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Low-Cost Startups (Penguin Books, March 2010).  To read more articles on winning entrepreneurial strategies, go to her website at www.gailmreid.com.

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The “Don’t Exit” Interview to Attract and Retain Great Employees by Silver Rose

Although a certain amount of turnover is healthy in an organization, there is still a deep impact when a top producer leaves.  To avoid this, why not conduct “don’t exit” interviews on a regular basis?  In a “don’t’ exit” interview, managers routinely ask their employees the same question headhunters are asking when they call, “What might tempt you to leave this job?” 

When I talk to managers about this, they will often tell me they don’t want to ask the question because they are convinced the employee will cite more money as the reason they would leave.  That is a legitimate concern, particularly if you know that more money is not available. However, in extensive employee surveys done over the past several years, money is never the number one priority for employees. More often it is things like respect, growth opportunities or interesting work. 

Managers who are genuinely interested in the wellbeing of their employees will listen to answers given in the “don’t exit” interview very closely.  You will learn a great deal about each employee if you ask some or all of these:

What do you value most about your job?

• Where are your skills and strengths being fully utilized?
• What skills or strengths do you have that we are not utilizing?
• Where do you think you need to improve and how can we help?
• What obstacles are you facing that seem insurmountable?
• Where would you like to go next within the organization?
• What would be the next logical step on your career ladder?

Not only will this information help to retain employees you don’t want to lose, it will also ensure that you are getting the highest productivity from your staff.  There is an old adage, “People don’t leave jobs; they leave bosses.”  Think about your own work experience.  Have you ever had a boss that was so great you would jump through rings of fire for him or her? Contrast that with managers that you wish were on fire.

It is the bosses who care enough to find out what each employee wants and needs who will succeed—even if you can’t fulfill those desires.  While these employees work for you, they will give their best because they know you care about them and they return the sentiment.  Some may eventually leave but it won’t be because you failed to do what you could for them.  It will be because the company wasn’t able to.  And that’s perfectly fine because while they were there, they gave their best because you asked them to.

Silver Rose specializes in coaching individuals who want work that they love and working with organizations that understand the competitive advantage of having employees who look forward to coming to work.  Organizations that work with her enjoy increased sales, productivity, product development, customer service, recruitment and retention.  As if that weren’t enough, satisfied employees do not put a strain on the employee benefits program. 

Website: http://www.SilverSpeaks.com

Blog:   http://silverspeaks.com/blogs/

Video: http://silverspeaks.com/speaker-demo-reel.html

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Working Longer, Retiring Later – Is the Increasing Retirement Age Really a Bad Thing? by Keith Weber

“I don’t want to retire to sit back and do nothing.  I want to retire so I can finally go do what I’ve always wanted to do!”  This was the constant refrain I heard from my clients for years as I helped them plan for retirement.  For many, the earlier they could retire the better.  In fact, by the late 1990’s, early retirement had come to be viewed as a sign of career and personal success.  The mantra had changed from the 1980’s version of “He who dies with the most toys wins!” to “He who retires first wins!”  But today, with employer pensions disappearing and investment values down, many people are being forced to delay their retirement as they instead continue to pursue their savings “number” that will allow them to finally cross the retirement finish line.  Over the years that line has proven to be a moving target.

In 1950, the average retirement age in the U.S. was 68 years old.  Over the next five decades that age gradually declined until it reached a low point around the year 2000 of 62.  Over the last 10 years the average retirement age has slowly been increasing.  With scheduled increases to Social Security’s “normal retirement age” already in place for second-half baby boomers, most experts agree the average retirement age is likely headed north for some time to come.

But is the increase in the average retirement age really a bad thing?  And is the economy the only reason for it? To both questions I would answer with a firm no.

The early retirement craze hit a high point in the mid-to-late 1990’s.  At that time, major corporations across the U.S. were offering huge early retirement bonuses to all kinds of rank-and-file employees who, due to job disillusionment and an “early retirement equals success” attitude, were all too happy to take the money and run.  But a few years later, a funny thing began to happen.  Many of these early retirees began showing back up in the workforce.  Some came back as consultants or independent contractors, some in new careers and many came right back to their old jobs.  Why?  Was it because the money was running out?  For some, yes, it was a financial decision.  But for many others it was because they felt lost and bored without something to do.  They felt as if they had more to give and more to contribute to the world, and they weren’t ready to let their real talents go to waste on the golf course.

With better health and more energy to give back, early and traditional age retirees in the early 2000’s began to change how we view retirement.  Today, retirement is no longer the 20-30 year vacation to sit back and do nothing, it’s a second chance to make a difference in the world with work that is personally meaningful and fulfilling. A 2004 study by AARP found that over 80% of baby boomers plan on working in some capacity in retirement, with over 55% planning to do so in an entirely different field or industry! 

Psychologists have been telling us for years that people need a purpose.  We need to feel valued and useful. For those who are struggling with a job that’s become tedious and dull (or worse), the idea of having to wait longer to escape into retirement is a huge disappointment.  But what we’ve learned over the last 10 years is that work is not the enemy – meaningless work is.

If you’re disillusioned with your job and dismayed that you won’t be able to retire when you had hoped, maybe it’s time to re-think how you view retirement.  While the idea of sitting back and doing nothing for a while might sound good initially, too many people have found that a life of extended leisure is really no life at all.  The question is do you really want to retire or do you want to finally go do what you’ve always wanted to do?  If the answer is the latter, here’s how you go about doing it

1.  Truly examine your priorities.  Is having that big house, fancy car and sleek boat truly that important to you?  Or do you value having freedom of your time to do what you want, freedom from worry about paying the bills, and freedom from a job that seems to shackle you down?

2.  Ask yourself “How do I want to contribute to the world?  If money wasn’t an issue, what would I really like to do?”  The answer to this is your first clue in defining the next stage in your life.

3.  Ask yourself, “What do I have to do to make that happen?”  Will you have to cut expenses, go back to school or get additional training?  Now you have the beginnings of a plan to help you make that life real.

Keith J Weber, CFP®, CPRC

President, Weber Consulting Group, LLC

Publisher, www.Retirement2020.com

www.kjweber.com

Keith J. Weber, CFP®, CPRC, is the president of Weber Consulting Group, LLC, and is an accomplished keynote speaker, author and expert on employee engagement, retirement and living life to the fullest – topics that are inextricably linked for today’s aging workforce.  Keith spent 20 years in the financial services industry as a nationally recognized financial advisor.

Believing that retirement is more than a financial event, Weber Consulting Group (WCG) studies the social and financial trends impacting retirement.  Through the website www.Retirement2020.com, WCG provides tools to help address the psychological, emotional and lifestyle aspects of retirement.  As a speaker, Keith helps individuals and organizations reignite their passion for work and life through keynote presentations and workshops.  Keith maintains the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation and is also a Certified Professional Retirement Coach. His latest book, Rethinking Retirement, (www.Rethinking-Retirement.com ) was released in July, 2010.

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Funding a start up by Catherine Cohen

When we started Premier Barter seven years ago we spent very little cash out of pocket. We traded for our logo, printing and copy writing for our brochures and flyers. BCL Soft was also started with very little out of pocket cash. Because of the barter members we had in Premier Barter, when BCL Soft’s Barter21 product was ready to launch we bartered for the servers, the colocation, logo design, printing, SEO for our website, website design and PR.

A new business that is a startup should meet with the barter exchange to discuss some of their needs. The broker assigned to the business will evaluate the goods or services that business has to offer. If the exchange has current members that can fulfill their needs and if what they offer can appeal to a broad spectrum then the exchange can lend barter dollars to pay for various start up costs. As an exchange we’ve loaned barter dollars for businesses to print labels for bags, clean carpet in a new office, purchase supplies, do a build out on a location, work with coaches and writers to create a business plan and so much more.

We suggest to new barter exchanges that we train to lend barter dollars at zero interest. This has been our practice for years and has been growing in the industry due to the recession. The business need only pay the usual and customary transaction fees, which amount to 10 – 14% of the transaction amount in cash.

A barter exchange is a great place to get a loan because the qualifications are easier, the rates are lower or non-existent and, unlike the bank, it is up to the barter exchange to help you find new barter customers that will allow you to pay back the loan.

Catherine Cohen
Creators of Barter21
Exchange Management Software

www.BCLSoft.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w947TppJiJY

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Help Employee Morale and Those Who Serve(d) by Lane Ostrow

A new way to give your employees a unique, meaningful experience, and thank a Veteran in their life at the same time.  Products for Good (PFG) has created the Honor One in a Million – Pay It Forward Campaign.  PFG is a philanthropic business which was created based on the purchase of six million Iraqi coins which were recovered by US and British from the banks of Basra. The coins originally sold to raise money for an orphanage in Basra, which had been decimated by Saddam’s regime.

The coins then made their way around the world and PFG we acquired them all with the goal of continuing their mission of good.  PFG created a line of Patriotic products honoring all who serve(d) and they are all assembled by disabled workers here in the US. PFG also makes a donation to military charities with every sale and have helped charities for over $400,000 as of October, 2010, with a goal in excess of $20mm.

In the Pay It Forward Campaign, a company purchases individual coins for $20 (sold in a blue velvet box with a certificate of authenticity and a copy of the PFG story) and distributes them to their employees.  The employees are then asked to gift them to a Veteran in their life.  The Veteran could be a family member, a member of their church, or someone else they come in contact with in their everyday life.  The gift is an extremely meaningful recognition of that individual’s sacrifice on behalf of our country. It is amazing how many times the gift goes to an individual who has never been thanked for their service.

The company can then request that the employees come back and share their story with other employees and the company, perhaps even on video. The impact has been amazing. We have hundreds of letters as a result of Products for Good gifts and the level of appreciation for the recognition and thanks for service has been overwhelming. One can learn more about the Honor One in a Million – Pay It Forward Program at www.productsforgood.com or reach out to Lane Ostrow. Co-Founder of Products for Good at LOstrow@productsforgood.com. Follow us on facebook at www.facebook.com/productsforgood and Twittter at www.twitter.com/productsforgood.

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