Entrepreneurship, and BCM’s 1st Annual Reader Survey – October 2017

Brand Career Management Monthly Tip Sheet

As an entrepreneur myself, I have learned that you need to know your audience and listen to their feedback, so I’d like to get yours. September marked the one-year anniversary of this Monthly Tip Sheet. Could you please click on this link to fill out a 10-question survey (which will take you less than three minutes)? Thank you in advance for sharing your perspective! As a token of my appreciation, every person who completes the survey will be included in a raffle to win a $20 Amazon gift card.

I’d also like to take a moment to mention Dorie Clark, a well-respected extraordinary solopreneur with expertise in branding, reinventing yourself and entrepreneurship. After starting out in marketing and politics, she successfully reinvented herself as an author and speaker. She has written three books: Stand Out, Reinventing You and her newest book was just released by Harvard Business Review Press, Entrepreneurial You: Monetize Your Expertise, Create Multiple Income Streams, and Thrive.

If you are an entrepreneur or thinking about becoming one, I suggest you check it out. I truly believe in her work (I don’t earn any monetary incentive for promoting this). I have started my copy. So far, it’s already given me a lot to think about and ideas to pursue.

Best of luck to you in your entrepreneurial ventures,
Paula

P.S. Please forward this to a friend, if you like what I have to share.

P.P.S. I only want to send things to those who want to receive them. If you want to unsubscribe at any time, please follow the instructions at the bottom of this message.

Create a Company Page on LinkedIn
LinkedIn just made it much easier to set up a company page for your business. Previously LinkedIn required an email tied to a company domain name, which stopped many people from trying to do it.

Now they have revamped things and made it very easy to set up a company page. If you go to this page in the Help Center, it gives you step-by-step instructions.

I tried it just the other day and it was quite simple to create. Keeping it up to date is another story, but for now just try it out. You can start by adding your logo, company type and size, who you help, how you help them and any upcoming events. The layout and design are now very alike your personal profile page and there are similar features, such as the ability to customize your URL (this I haven’t figure out yet for the company page – if you do, please let me know).

The posts below share helpful insights on entrepreneurship. Not surprisingly, most of them come from Dorie Clark or www.entrepreneur.com.

If you’re new to running your own business, you may need to educate others on your new identity. Dorie Clark gives some useful tips here on rebranding yourself as an entrepreneur.

Next, check out Your Entrepreneurial You Self-Assessment to help you develop a strategy to grow your entrepreneurial ideas. Dorie’s workbook is aligned with the book content, and it walks you through 88 questions and ideas to move you forward.

If you’re already working for yourself, two things you must get a handle on are your finances and how you spend your time. The two articles below can help with those aspects of running your business.

• Julie Walraven shares useful tips on managing finances as an entrepreneur.
• Cynthia Johnson shares some time excellent options for time tracking apps. I have recently started using TopTracker and its website is very easy to use. However, you should take note of two things I discovered. First, there is no phone app yet for it; and second, if you download it to your desktop, it will be running in the background and may slow down your computer.

If you haven’t yet made the jump to entrepreneurship, here are two posts from entrepreneur.com to help you decide if this is a good idea for you.

• John Rampton shares “50 signs you may need to start your own business.”
• Jess Esktrom shares “Five smart questions to ask yourself before starting your own business.”

CAREER CONVERSATION SERIES
In my efforts to try to reach more mid-career women, I am excited to be a part of the Women’s Society of Cyberjutsu (WSC) virtual Career Conversation Series on November 16, from 7 pm to 8 pm.

THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE
Purchase a copy of the 3^rd Edition of The Essential Guide to Career Certifications.

This 2017 electronic publication features 50+ career industry credentials. Each entry includes the certification name and area of focus, a verified link to the training provider’s website, costs involved, program length, eligibility criteria and renewal requirements.

Purchase it online at TheEssentialGuidetoCareerCertifications.com and gain immediate access.