This Bailout Doesn't Cost a Dime
By Mark Puppe
Questions about the next paycheck and how to pay last month’s bills plague millions of people. Two streaks of multi-month unemployment had cast me into that ocean of uncertainty, too. However, those times without blessed me with ideas that stablized my career and enable my business to grow now.
Whether we’re business owners or job seekers, we need to promote ourselves to survive and that requires effective communication. Take a stab at these free strategies. They’ll help heal existing wounds.
Facebook. This hokey network has created a firestorm of communication and, in my case, web site referrals. These connections provide an interactive forum to market our interests for free. Post a link to your business or announce your job search and watch the leads pour in. The pictures can be entertaining, too.
Give A Little. Think I get paid for those logos on the right? No, but posting them helped make me the sole resume writer, communications consultant and copyeditor for the top three respectively and a “Career Expert” for the fourth. Let me know if you want to see yours here, too. This doesn’t mean we should work for free, but exchanging services opens doors and if I can fit through them, so can you.
Press Releases are a free way to announce your accomplishments. What happens when it’s well written and sparks interest among the masses? Ta dah! It gets published and reporters might even follow up to write a story. Hiring a professional third party to prepare it can be profitable when you have second thoughts about how. You know where to find one.
Ask For Help. Isn’t that a novel one? It is easy to think, “I can do it myself,” but a wealth of agencies provide sound advice so we don’t’ have to go it alone. Local and state development foundations, chambers of commerce, staffing agencies and friends all have ideas about how to engage yours. Plus, there are businesses that can articulate them for you at very reasonable rates.
Blogging allows us to share ideas and make the entire world our audience. That keeps our minds and writing skills sharp. When someone comments, we've received a free review and it would be great if you do that below! Even if no one does, these ideas can promote your business or job search and knowing that is just one benefit I receive by posting them. Plus, thousands read this blog daily! Well, we’re getting there. Thanks for being one of them.
Trade Fairs and Organizations. Would we hear “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” so often if it wasn’t true? Maybe if it was a campaign promise, but when it comes to building a business or finding a job, that statement holds more water than the sea. Trade groups are an excellent way to network with people who share similar interests and goals and they might even allow you to participate as a guest.
These simple steps will keep money in your pocket and time on your schedule while Washington works so hard to waste both. Hey, here’s another suggestion: write a letter to the editor or directly to Congress – I can help with that, too.
