Category Archives: Success

Your Online Resume is Everywhere

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Back in the day (we’re talking 1990s) I used to spend a couple of hours every year keeping my paper resume up-to-date.

‘The Internet’ was still a phrase used mainly by geeks and required connecting a modem to a phone line, and then dialing into your email. Lord knows if anyone ever got hired online lol!

Anyway, step forward nearly 20 years, and while paper resumes are still handled and looked at, for many hiring managers the first touch will be a digital one.

Oh, I know what you’re thinking:

I’ll just update my paper resume to an online format.

That approach can still work, especially if you have contacts within the corporate world.

But it won’t be too long before the resume as a standalone document will be only one of several online scores that determine whether you even get to first base i.e. an ‘interview’.

And I’m not referring to the daily digital footprint you leave online.  That’s a mainly passive and reactive view of the persona you appear to be. I say, ‘appear’, because at the moment, “on the Internet no one knows you’re a dog”.

(Check out that famous cartoon from the New Yorker magazine a while back.)

No, if you want to become top of mind for many of those looking for talent via the web, you’ll have to start creating an active and responsive trail leading to the real you.

And how is that done?

Well, here’s someone who’s done all of that and more. And who now looks for the same, or better, in the talent he hires.

The article’s titled “Seven Ways to Position Yourself for Unlimited Work, by Joe Pulizzi.

True, the article’s thrust is toward creative types in the media e.g. journalists, freelance writers and marketers.

However, in a vast digital world where talent for almost any career path’s now located far and wide, you will need to be very clear in your online message and presence. Of course, the ‘offline’ you is still very important but there’s a merging of digital with physical coming, courtesy of awesome networked computing power and bandwidth.

Be prepared!

- Mark McClure

PS – This is the final post on this blog for 2010.

I’ll have a short break for Japanese New Year celebrations and then it’s full steam ahead in the “Year of the rabbit”. Happy New Year!

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Online Goal Setting For 2011 – Special E-Coaching Offer

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[Online Goal Setting - March 2012 Update:
The goal creation maps site is being refreshed. Follow my twitter account, markmcclure2day, for news of that project.]

The quote below is from Brian Tracy’s book, Maximum Achievement (Chp 5 “The Master Skill”, page 138), one of the few self-help books I recommend to people interested in learning how to set and achieve goals.

“Success Equals Goals And All Else Is Commentary”

From my experience over the years, it seems many people avoid or even loathe the whole process of setting goals.

There are probably two main reasons for such behavior:

1- People don’t know how to set, monitor and adjust their own goals.
2- People are busy achieving, sometimes unknowingly but often reluctantly, other peoples’ goals…

Setting Goals is a Skill

Fortunately, reason number one is a skill that can be learned and improved on, at any age. It requires just time and effort.

Number two is trickier to overcome because ‘other people’ can be family, friends, colleagues, bosses, even celebrities and sports stars.

Add in a fear of failure / embarrassment plus a trained desire to conform / please and it’s no surprise that goal setting gets a bum rap.

The Value Of an Experienced Coach

And that’s when an experienced coach can be a good investment. Someone who can act as an independent sounding board and mirror for your plans, hopes and dreams.

This was my experience five years ago as I began to plan a mid-career change. I had lots of ideas, some vague and others that were detailed but wildly optimistic. My coach became a trusted confidante who didn’t belittle my clumsy or ill-conceived goals with withering criticism, sarcasm or indifference.

Instead, she patiently listened but astutely called me on the what, where, when, how and why of these invariably conflicting goals. This is what I mean by ‘sounding board and mirror’.

She didn’t tell me what I should be doing. Rather, she let me thread these stories about my possible future together in my own way and in my own time (it took about 5 sessions, if I recall correctly, over a couple of months). Some ‘future stories’ I could choose to discard while others morphed into the various freelance activities I’m pursuing today.

Discover How To Set Incredible Yet Reachable Goals

Inspired by the progress I’d made with my coach, in the Spring of 2007 I set out to create an online, home-study course that shows people how to create meaningful and practical goals. Here’s a screenshot from one of the course videos:

goal-setting-2011-online-home-study-course

And while the course delivers everything it promises, I still hear from people who have problems in following through and completing the material.

A small number are unable to even get started.

What to do? What to do?

I had no plans to offer 1:1 phone coaching around goal setting at that price point. Especially as my own copywriting career was gathering momentum and requiring more time and attention.

And so the course remained as an ideal way for self-starters to discover and set their goals.

Nonetheless, my coaching persona still wants to find a way to be creative and help people create goals they can believe and achieve. I’m thinking about starting a goal setting membership site next year where people can get e-coaching support and help on a regular basis.

How that pans out is yet to be decided but as a test, I’m going to introduce the following e-coaching service.

One Month of Email Coaching Support Plus lifetime Access to the Goal Creation Maps Online Course

Here’s how this e-coaching service will work in the ‘test’ phase:

1- You purchase the online course at the standard price of US$ 67.

2- You send me your email receipt and tell me that you want the e-coaching option at no extra cost. (This is a benefit only available via this blog.)

3- I’ll reply to you within 1 business day with the e-coaching email address, and then we begin!

To keep things manageable for us both, you can email me one question/issue each day (for a full calendar month) that is connected with what you’re doing on the goal creation maps course.
I’ll reply to this email in as much detail as necessary within 2 business days, often sooner.

(Please note that ‘business day’ means Monday to Friday, excluding any Japanese National Holidays. And the time zone is Japan Standard Time.)

But you must act soon…

This Offer Expires Midnight Tuesday 30th November

As I’m busy with other projects I can only except a limited number of clients for email coaching. If you’re ready to start today, then head over to this link and click the order button at the bottom of the page.

Click here –> GOAL CREATION MAPS: E-Coaching Service

The offer expires at Midnight on Tuesday 30th November – in any timezone!

- Mark ‘Goal Setting E-coach’ McClure

PS – Note there’s no risk to you in this offer as ClickBank, the payment processor I use to handle billing, has a 60-day money back guarantee. If you’re dissatisfied for any reason whatsoever, just email me within 60 days of purchase, and I’ll process a full 100% refund.

In the three plus years this course has been running there have been only 2 refund requests. Both of which were promptly and politely given. I stand by this guarantee 100%.

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Will 2011 Be Your Year For Success, Wealth, Financial Freedom & Happiness?

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That’s quite a headline, isn’t it?

But it’s not actually mine…

Anyway, perhaps you’re not surprised anymore by such outlandish claims – seems like a small army of personal growth gurus, self help experts and sundry life coaches start ramping up their 2011 online marketing efforts before folks get wrapped up in end of year celebrations and/or general busyness.

So, what’s different about this ‘castles in the air’ headline?

year-to-success.jpg

I think the key point is that the author, Bo Bennett, has (as far as I can tell) walked the talk. He certainly has with respect to visible business success, wealth and financial freedom.

(Personal happiness is a subjective judgment but I’m sure he’s got that one covered too.)

Just who is Bo Bennett?

Looking around his personal growth site, year to success, along with a little googling, soon gave me a picture of a man who is determined to succeed at whatever he attempts.

From making millions with his web business company in the ‘Internet gold rush’ of the 90s (he sold his business at the tech market peak in 2001, while still in his 20s) to becoming a martial arts expert, he’s turned a life-long interest with personal growth into direct action.

You’ve probably read that many of the self-help gurus parrot the line about finding someone who has done what you want to do, and then copying or mimicking what they did.

Well, Bo has sure left a trail of ideas and thinking for others to pick up on – in the form of his success web site. Although there are paying membership options, you can download the entire 366 daily podcast lessons to your iPad or mp3 player for free (just email registration required.)

I don’t think this is another “get rich quick” slam on the unwary because Bo’s personal and business story is one of ups and downs, and of living the logo up close and personal.

Logo?

Yes, this one (at the top of his home page)

When it comes to success, there are no shortcuts.

Hear! Hear!

2011 is no doubt going to be a challenging year for many. There’ll be successes and setbacks for individuals, companies, all the way up ‘nation states’ and perhaps even trading blocs.

That’s why you need to have some type of plan to make the best of the circumstances you find yourself in. And, where necessary, to start making significant and incremental changes.

Only you know what you can do or not do with your own life and ambitions.

But I know one thing about you for sure.

If you don’t have any plans for your life or career, others will.

- Mark ‘success equals goals and all else is commentary’ McClure

(btw – That’s a Brian Tracy quote in between my name!)

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Rice Picker or Samurai – Which are You?

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Are people born entrepreneurs or become so?

Are you a worker bee / corporate drone, or a samurai / free spirited entrepreneur?

In the link below, Jason Calacanis delivers a rousing performance to some Penn State students – all the more so because it was unscripted. A 37 minute master class in self-belief, desire and never giving up.

Yes, he’s controversial and outspoken. Drones around the globe will hate him with a vengeance. But hey, he’s a Brooklyn boy, and while acknowledging that rice pickers are needed, holds a special affection for the samurai (entrepreneurial) class.

The downloadable video and audio-only files are well worth keeping if you have even a smidgen of desire to start and grow your own business.

Jason Calacanis – Rice Picker or Samurai? (Oct 2011 Update: Broken link?)

Some choice quotes:

For the people who want to be worker bees and drones:

“…there’s really not very much to tell you. Your life’s going to be very boring. You’re not going to get much accomplished. And you’re going to die and regret not starting a company, and not being your own boss, and not doing something epic. But by that time it will be too late.”

And for those who felt and acted on an entrepreneurial calling:

“… you saw that you had a choice in life. You didn’t just have to get in line and go work for somebody. You could actually come up with an idea, execute on it and be responsible for your destiny.”

Interestingly, while he believes that entrepreneurs can be made, the roots usually come from the example or influence of entrepreneurial parents in a person’s younger years.

That being said, there’s no time like the present…

Mark ‘samurai’ McClure ;-)

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Eddie Izzard: 43 Marathons in 51 Days

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“Eddie Izzard is an actor, comedian and part-time transvestite, but no one thought he was much of an athlete. Until he decided to go for a run – a very, very long run.”

And with those words the BBC takes viewers on an incredible challenge – one that saw Eddie run 43 marathons around the UK in 51 days, and raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for the charity, Sport Relief.

Continue reading →

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