Building Website Visibility

Creating a website for you business doesn’t matter if no one stops by to view it. Creating visibility for your website is very important, but can be tricky and time-consuming if you don’t know where to start.

Career Builder has a few tips that might help:

• Use descriptive and informative text on each page of your website, choosing words that relate directly to your product, service or industry.
• Highlight and feature your most important content first, in a clear, uncluttered fashion.
• Ask other relevant sites to link to yours. One measure search engines now use to measure your site’s importance is the quality, and, to a lesser extent, volume of outside sites that refer to your own.
• Be sure to create distinct titles for each of the pages on your website, and use your keywords in the titles.
• Write descriptions that are clear, factual and free of excessive superlatives (best, cheapest, biggest). People prefer sites that are more factual and less “sales talk.”
• If your geographic location is relevant, use it in your site and make it part of your list of keywords.
• Don’t expect all search engines and online directories to find you. Many directories, such as the Yahoo! directory and the Open Directory project, offer paid submission options - take advantage of them.

You've Been Fired! Now What?

It’s a sad truth and trend of our times – jobs are disappearing in virtually every industry. While we all hope that this will turn around, it is good to be prepared for a layoff or firing.

Career Builder has a good article on the subject that covers everything from severance packages to how to keep your spirits up. Hopefully you won’t need any of this advice, but it is good to keep in your back pocket.

Seven Steps to Successful Public Relations for Your Startup

PR is just as vital to your startup as marketing. It is an effective, almost always free, way to get your name out to the public. Startup Nation has a great checklist for creating a strong PR campaign for your company that is worth checking out. Here are the bullet points:

1. Create an action plan
2. Research the media
3. Develop story ideas
4. Prepare a media kit
5. Write a press release
6. Contact the media
7. Get the word out

The Ten Biggest Interview Killers

When it comes to interviewing for a job, only the strong survive. You need to interview strong and put yourself at an advantage. However, there are a few ways to “kill” any advantage you build for yourself. HotJobs has laid out a list of the ten most common interview assassins:

1. Not knowing your aim
2. Being too needy
3. Lousy nonverbal communication
4. Compromising you position
5. Falling into the answers-only rut
6. Rambling
7. Being overly familiar
8. Making incorrect assumptions
9. Getting emotional
10. Not asking specific questions

Asking for Help When You're New to the Job

If you’re anything like me, or most people for that matter, the night before the first day of a new job can be a sleepless one. Starting a new job can be both exciting and stressful, especially if you have transferred to a new field.

Monster has a great article about both starting a new job and getting assistance if you need it. Long story short – don’t be afraid to ask for help, it will help you in the long run.

Should Your Boss Be Your Facebook Friend?

Facebook – every one seems to have it nowadays. Your friends, classmates, old junior high teachers, and heck, even your grandparents have profiles on this social networking site. With it’s ever increasing scope, eventually you’ll discover that your boss is on Facebook as well.

So, should you befriend them? There are a lot of factors at play there, and Career Builder does a good job of laying out both the pros and cons of being Facebook friends with your boss.

Returning to IT After a Hiatus?

Taking a break from any career can be risky, but taking one from technology, poses a particular set of challenges. Employers demand up-to-date skills and experience. Without them, you may have a hard time getting a new employers attention – especially if you hope to return in a similar position and with a comparable salary.

However, Monster has some great advice if you would like to successfully reenter the IT sector. I highly recommend heading over there if you are considering a hiatus, or if you are trying to reenter after one.

The Right People Can Help You Find Your Calling

Finding the job you want isn’t easy. Add on top of that the fact that you don’t know what kind of job you want, and your job search can be down right impossible. So what do you do? You can spend countless hours researching mixed in with a lot of serious soul searching, but you still might come up drawing a blank.

However, HotJobs has a great article on how to find people who can help you with your dilemma, both professionals and people you already know.

Here are a few people they suggest speaking with:

• Career Counselors
• Personal Coaches
• Mentors
• Friends and Family

How to Follow-up on a Great Interview

So you just had a great interview. What do you do next? If you find yourself in this situation, the one thing you shouldn’t do is sit on your hands and wait for your future employer to make the first move.

Career Builder has a simple and effective list of things to do to keep your interview fresh in the company’s mind.

• Within 48 hours, follow-up with a value-added response.
• Call, write or personally visit your potential boss once a week with a value-added benefit.
• If you are turned down, write a very cordial thank-you note to HR and, more importantly, to the person who interviewed you, thanking them for their time and consideration.