Stop Getting "Maybe" in Interviews By Working Harder to Get to No. (ScottBirkhead)
posted Thu January 28th 2010 @ 11:31 AM

Maybe... Read More »

10 Things I Hate About You (ScottBirkhead)
posted Tue December 29th 2009 @ 3:05 PM

There's a wonderful selling site called "Rain Today" that I found out about after buying a sales training eBook years ago from Jill Konrath, who's one of the contributors to that site. Read More »

Garage Door Mechanic (ScottBirkhead)
posted Wed December 16th 2009 @ 12:10 PM

When winter gives you piles of snow every other week and hide-chappingtemperatures, you realize how much you love parking in the garage. Read More »

Bad Marketing (ScottBirkhead)
posted Wed December 2nd 2009 @ 2:17 PM

On the window sill in my office I've got a sales letter I wrote a long time ago. Read More »

Bad way to reach out (ScottBirkhead)
posted Thu November 19th 2009 @ 9:55 AM

Example of how NOT to approach someone for help:

I got this message earlier this week via LinkedIn. It's so bad it doesn't need much explaining...

"I am new to Denver, and was hired here to help build an XYZ practice. I would like to meet you and discuss this market and if I am in the right place for what I am looking to do. You will have information that I need.

Name
Number"

Gross.

I, I, I, I, I....this is all about him. Nothing about what's in it
for me or why I should share my precious time or information other than he needs it.

Heck, I need a lot of things.

Thought about sending him a note back that said, "Sure...my going rate is $135 an hour for information... when can you meet?"

Are you thinking that sounds cold and heartless, that I should help him out of the goodness of my heart?

Mmmmm...well, I only have 10 hours a day to find the threads to pull to get myself enough work to pay for my family's food and shelter, and to reach my goals and dreams. If I spent time on things I strongly suspect will be unproductive, how will I get where I need to go.

The simple lesson - if you can't figure out some way to make it a benefit for OTHER person should help you, you're depending on their goodwill to figure it out for you. Read More »

Marketing Truths (and Lies) (ScottBirkhead)
posted Tue October 27th 2009 @ 10:28 PM

9 Great Truths from Perry Marshall Read More »

Nothing happens until someone gets sold. (ScottBirkhead)
posted Wed October 21st 2009 @ 9:47 AM

That, my friend, is a cold hard fact of life.

And most job seekers I meet get a sour look on their face when they think of themselves as 'selling' themselves.

They're OK having conversations with people, happy to talk about themselves and even bat around ideas, but when they think of selling, they think of:

*Pushy
*Dishonest
*Selfish
*Manipulative

And a dozen other words that describe the streotypical bad salesmen.

And those people exist - we both know that.

But at some point you're going to start getting interviews, and if you don't know how to sell effectively, you're going to leave yourself at the same competitive level as everyone else...skills and experience.

In this market you'l lose at that level 99 times out of 100, and you have literally NO control or influence over the hiring decision.

GOOD sales people rarely get enough credit for how and what they do. They are the ones that help companies dig down, figure out the real problem, develop a solution, and stitch it all together.

If you can get your arms around 'selling' yourself in a way that mimicks what these good salespeople do, you'll not only stand out, but you won't leave interviews feeling like you did a great job, and then get gobsmacked by the dreaded, "We've decided to go with another candidate" letter.

What's a good sales person do?

Selling for the "no."

That's right. Bad sales people (see the list above) put the sale and commission above the customer's needs. Good salespeople are looking for any and every reason to disqualify their product and service by asking as many stringent questions as they can.

Simple as that. They walk into the conversation expecting that their primary role is to be of help, and they ask questions designed to get past the surface level issues and discover the true motives behind those surface level issues.

Most interviews are guided by interviewers who have not been trained in interview skills (or won't take the time to interview well), and so they are NOT asking the right questions. Your job as a 'seller' of yourself is to force the interview down to the right level.

Not "x,y,z skills" but "What will x,y and z allow you to accomplish better given the tasks ahead of you?" Or "X, Y and Z are great - why are they important to you at this particular point  on this particular hire?"

If you've seen my Self-Marketing Pyramid then you know that the reason most resumes fail as marketing tools is that they don't get past skills and experiences to the real problems companies are trying to solve.

(If you haven't, email me and I'll send it to you with an explanation).

It's the same in interviews. NO ONE gets hired at the skills and experience level. People get hired because the 'buyer' trusts that you understand and wil be 100% committed to helping them solve their problems, challenges and opportunities.

Even if they can't articulate it or ask you the right questions to see whether you can or can't.

A good salesperson knows that if they rely on the customer to connect all the dots, they'll lose the vast majority of the time. Read More »

Mental State - Part 2 (ScottBirkhead)
posted Tue October 13th 2009 @ 9:14 PM

Is your mental state affecting your job hunt? Read More »

Your mindset impacts your results (ScottBirkhead)
posted Wed September 30th 2009 @ 1:22 PM

Is your mental state affecting your job hunt?

More and more often, people are asking me about the mental and emotional side of managing their job search. Especially if it's taking a long time, you may start to doubt yourself or your abilities, or suffer through periods of depression.

This week I talk with Julio Blanco, owner of "Envision Lifeworks," a coaching firm dedicated to helping people experience and enjoy what they love in life. Read More »

Small Biz Marketing Lessons for Job Seekers (ScottBirkhead)
posted Wed August 19th 2009 @ 5:44 PM

So many great small business ideas and passions burn up on re-entry into the real world, and the primary reason is that people won't fall in love with the idea of marketing themselves.

Same for job seekers. Read More »