As career coaches and resume writers, we are all in the business of helping our clients stay ahead in the world of professional growth and career development. LinkedIn is a key component to job searches today, and I’m sure many (hopefully all) of us are helping our clients understand and embrace it. 

But how good are WE at leveraging the power of LinkedIn to build OUR brands, expand our networks, and reinforce the thought leadership that brings clients into the fold? 

In this month’s Spotlight, we’ll explore how we, as career coaches and resume writers, can leverage LinkedIn for personal and professional growth - effectively and efficiently!

Before we delve into the specifics of how to use LinkedIn effectively, it's essential to understand that success on this platform, like many other things in life, takes time and patience. Building a solid personal brand and establishing ourselves as thought leaders doesn't happen overnight. 

It's a process, and here’s what I’ve learned along the way:

• Consistency is key. If we want to grow our networks, raise brand awareness, and share valuable insights with our audiences, we must show up regularly. This doesn't mean spending hours every day on LinkedIn, but a thoughtful, consistent approach will do wonders.

• Ignore metrics. (At least to some extent.) Avoid getting caught up in how many reactions or comments you’re getting on individual posts and, instead, track your profile views and follows. LinkedIn’s current algorithms are - interesting - so this is a much better way to understand how your efforts are impacting your overall performance. 

• Be you. Getting more active with content creation can feel a little scary. You’re vulnerable, and your opinions are out there for viewing (and shaming), but it’s what people want, so get over it )to be direct!). Be confident in what you know and put it out there in your own way.

LinkedIn is continuously evolving, and what worked a few years ago might not yield the same results today.

I’ve basically decided “the algo” is to us as ATS is to our clients. Here are some strategies that are currently working on LinkedIn:

1. Content Is King: Regularly sharing content on LinkedIn is one of the most effective ways to increase visibility and engage with our audiences. It could be a thought-provoking article, a personal anecdote, or a client success story. Remember, people appreciate authenticity. Share what's meaningful to you, and your audience will likely find it valuable.

2. Engagement Matters: Don't just post content; engage with your network - in some ways, it could be an even better path to profile visibility! Respond to comments on your posts, participate in relevant discussions, and chime in on others’ content with meaningful responses (11+ words!).

3. Start a Newsletter: If you have creator mode turned on (you should), you have the ability to  

Need inspiration? Check out my weekly newsletter: Combatting the Sunday Scaries! 

4. Use AI Carefully: ChatGPT is a great tool to enable efficient content creation, but be mindful of how you use it. It seems as if both the algorithm and the humans on LinkedIn can spot AI-generated content, and it lowers engagement. You can use it; just be sure to edit the output into your own voice.

5. Don’t be afraid to be personal: Yes, you see people ranting about how personal stuff shouldn’t be on LinkedIn, but guess what? That’s what gets the engagement! The key is to take something personal and make it relevant to your thought leadership by tying in an anecdote or offering a lesson from it. Be sure to remain “above the bar,” avoid politicizing anything, and balance this kind of content with knowledge sharing and other professional meanderings.

If I can get people to like a post about me learning to mountain bike at 42.8, you’ve got ammo!

6. Chime in on collaborative articles: LinkedIn launched something called Skills Pages about a year ago, and within each skills page are AI-generated articles relevant to the topic. Find the skills pages that align with your thought leadership, follow them, and offer contributions to the articles. You’ll be seen by new faces, and you’ll also have a chance of getting one of the new yellow top voice badges!

There you have it - six easy steps to embracing LinkedIn and all that it has to offer to career services professionals. 

The journey isn’t that daunting of an undertaking, after all! 

While you’re rolling out the strategies above, I’ll also caution you to focus on high-quality connections. I’m generally open to connecting to anyone and everyone except lead-generation spammers who just want to pitch me and dilute the quality of my network. It isn’t worth the additional follower, trust me. 

In closing, LinkedIn offers a unique opportunity to expand our professional reach and establish ourselves as thought leaders, but success on the platform takes time, consistency, patience, and authenticity. Focusing on valuable content, meaningful connections, and continuous learning will help you establish your voice and grow a sustainable, meaningful network. 

See you on LinkedIn!

Your Friend and Coach,
Angie

In the world of career coaching and resume writing, success is often defined by one key metric: the ability to help clients achieve their professional goals. 

Whether it's landing a “dream” job, navigating a career transition, or crafting the perfect resume, our services are ultimately designed to solve specific problems our clients face. 

Do you truly understand the problems you solve?

Understanding the problems you solve and how to deliver solutions to your target audience can transform your business as a career coach and resume writer. 

If you’ve been through the Build Your Business program (the next cohort begins October 18th; shameless plug!), you know how adamant I am about packaging solutions to your niche’s problems. 

→ Why Problems-Solving Matters

As career coaches and resume writers, we’re in the business of transformation. 

Our skills, knowledge, and experience guide people through critical life decisions, and the relationship behind that engagement can revolutionize the outcome.

Here's why it matters:

1. Enhanced  the Client Experience

Putting your clients' challenges front and center allows you to create a more tailored and effective experience. When clients feel that you truly understand their problems, they're more likely to engage and trust the process. This also means they’re more likely to return and refer!

2. Differentiation and Targeting

Let’s face it; our profession is growing, and standing out requires a clear value proposition that articulates the unique problems you're equipped to solve. This not only helps you differentiate but also attracts the right clients who resonate with your expertise. That sounds a lot like a niche! 

3. Tailored Marketing

Knowing the specific problems you solve enables you to craft targeted marketing campaigns. Your messaging can directly address the pain points your clients are experiencing, making your services more appealing. Sounds a lot like what we do for client resumes, eh?

4. Powerful Value Proposition

A clear understanding of the problems you solve feeds into a compelling value proposition. It's the promise of value you bring to your clients, and when they see how your services address their needs, you become a more appealing choice. This means “selling” no longer feels like “sales” because you’re offering a value-based outcome to someone who needs it. Look at what we did there!

Identifying the Problems You Solve

Not sure how to take a resume and turn it into a solution to someone’s problem? Here are ways you can explore how to identify the problems you solve:

→ Listen to Your Clients: Pay attention to the questions they ask, the challenges they describe, and the outcomes they desire. Often, clients will explicitly state the issues they're facing when given the safe space (or prompt) to do so. 

→ Market Research: Look for common pain points, trends, and challenges that professionals in your target audience frequently encounter. Online forums, social media groups, and industry publications can be valuable sources of insight and can also provide clues as to the language the audience uses to speak about their challenges.

→ Collaborate: We’re all here for each other! Sharing experiences and discussing common client issues can help you gain a deeper understanding of the challenges your clients face. Your peers may offer valuable perspectives and solutions you hadn't considered.

→ Success Stories: Examine the specific problems you addressed with clients and how your services led to positive outcomes for that particular avatar. 

→ Embrace Your Uniqueness: Consider what unique qualities you bring to your profession and how those can provide a particular client with rare insight or empathy to support your process. 

Don’t overthink this. The problems you solve most effectively often align with your personal strengths, experience, and knowledge; it’s very likely the solution you’re meant to deliver is sitting there, right in front of your face, while you go to the ends of the Earth to find it. 

If you’re ready to build lasting relationships with clients while creating a reputation for outcomes, this is your answer. I challenge you to explore how you can present your offerings as solutions instead of transactional projects to see how the sales process feels different - better, more organic, more natural, and more successful. 

Your Friend and Coach, 

Angie

Is the Inability to manage your time holding your business back? Do you fear delegating responsibilities or find yourself overwhelmed with All. The. Things.?

Back-to-school season is around the corner, meaning it’s the perfect time to evaluate your routine, take a good honest look at how you spend your time, and adopt new habits. 

→ Are you working in your business or on your business?

As coaches and resume writers, a good chunk of our time has to be spent working “in” our businesses. We’re providers and writers who deliver products and services that take time; however, it’s easy to get out of whack with your time allocation - caught up in operational or administrative tasks that carry less value and often take more of our time. 

Alternatively, as entrepreneurs, we need to have some focused time to work on our businesses, stepping back from the grind to tackle strategic planning, long-term development, or new product launches. 

If you’re failing to carve out time for business development, or you look at your calendar and see 67 hours of client meetings this week, it’s time to make some changes. 

Five Tips to Add Time Back into Your Coaching Calendar

1. Time Blocking

Time blocking means allocating specific time slots for different activities to create structure and focus. This could mean blocking out 8 - 11 am for resume writing, or that Mondays are for marketing, Tuesdays are for networking, Wednesdays are for finance, etc. 

Start by identifying priorities and activities that suck your time but require thought and block them into your calendar - I mean physically add them to your calendar, mark it busy, and give it a special color. Commit to the rotation or activities you add as if they’re a meeting with a client. 

Remember to include buffer (bathroom) time for unforeseen circumstances or breaks to maintain productivity and avoid burnout.

2. Power Hours and Pomodoros 

Identify your most productive hours during the day, and tackle the most challenging or high-priority tasks at those times of the day to accomplish more in less time. Bonus: you can also design power hours for stacking related activities. 

For instance, you can write LinkedIn profiles or cover letters for several clients in one Power Hour, which helps avoid the mindset shift when going back and forth between tasks. 

You can leverage the Promodoro Technique to turn these times into “sprints”. Set a timer for 25 or 50 minutes and work until the timer goes off. This approach helps break tasks into manageable chunks, a great workaround to reduce procrastination. 

The key to successful power hours and Pomodoros is eliminating distractions to dedicate yourself fully to the project at hand. Put the phone on silent, pause the inbox, and remove the cat from your desk. :)

3. Automate Routine Tasks

In a previous Business Corner (March 2023), I shared a list of my top tech solutions for solopreneurs, so now is a great time to go to the archives at parwcc.com and dig that up!

A wealth of automation tools out there can streamline repetitive and time-consuming tasks. From appointment scheduling apps and project management software for task organization to email, CRM, and funnel automation tools for customer communication, automating routine activities can drastically change the time you spend in your business versus on your business! 

My top tip for leveraging automation is contained right here, in handy tip #4. 

4. Appointment Style Client Scheduling (and Calendly automated controls!) 

A few weeks ago, I was in a coaching session with a new-to-business career coach, starting a side business to complement full-time work in career services. We got onto the topic of balancing client load with the “day job”, which is when I shared my appointment-style scheduling and Calendly set-up with him, and his eyes got wide with excitement! 

I’ve structured Calendly to control and automate my availability, so I don’t have to think about a thing or worry about overbooking myself! 

It evolved from a two-step process. Here’s how it works. 

→ Manually entering all your available client sessions in your main calendar. 

Set them to an obvious color (I use orange) and title them “Client Session Available.” Mark them all busy, so no one can book a free consulting call with you during those times, but be sure to leave windows (and create a special event type) for potential client calls.

→ Offer new clients or a next session based on your established availability. 

The available orange sessions reflect open options. Change them to green once filled with a paying client (because green = money!). Train your clients to meet when YOU want to work (remember, you own your calendar) based on the available orange events.

→ Evaluate client flow by predicting who needs sessions during the following two weeks. 

This will help you throttle your new-client onboarding up or down based on what’s open while ensuring availability for clients in a multi-session program. 

→ Move all that madness to Calendly once you’ve gotten the hang of how many new clients you can take in a week and feel comfortable allowing clients to book their own follow-up sessions. 

Create different event types with the appropriate controls for the number of new clients, check-in sessions, and follow-up sessions you want to have in a day. This is an automated way to ensure you don’t overload yourself while automating your scheduling and reducing the amount associated with rescheduling. 

Magic!

5. Delegate

While it’s hard to offload stuff, you’ll need to lighten your load at some point. Monthly bookkeeping and bank reconciliation are the easiest (and first) thing I always recommend outsourcing. 

Second is special media and content creation. 

These two activities are so different from our core activities as career coaches and resume writers that it’s easy to spin your wheels and get caught in a rabbit hole when completing them. 

Or forget them altogether, which isn’t ideal for your lead generation. Or your CPA. 

Virtual Assistants can provide various services with minimal hours a week, so it may be more affordable than you think (and I have a great recommendation when you’re ready!)

Time is our greatest commodity. Clients pay us for advice and time in conversation; they pay us for the time it takes to create the perfect resume. As coaches and resume writers, our profit margins are dictated by our productivity and how much time we can bill to money-making activities. 

Optimizing your time as an entrepreneur can be a game changer to growing your profitability, building capacity, expanding your income - and avoiding burnout! Ask me how I know…

I hope you’ll try out one, two, or all of these time-savers to position your business - and you - for long-term success and sustainability. 

You’ve got this!

Your Friend and Coach, 

Angie Callen, CPRW, CPCC

Pricing. Packaging. Productizing. 

It’s the never-ending plight of entrepreneurs in the coaching and consulting space, and it’s even more challenging when you add resumes to the mix!\

The resume is the tangible investment - the seeming “commodity” - that gives prospective clients the perception they can shop around and look for competitive pricing, only to find everything from $259 resumes to $4,000+. 

That’s helpful intel, eh?

Coaching, interview prep, offer negotiations…figuring out how to assemble all the intangible tangible (not a typo) support we career services professionals offer can make your head spin faster than a black hole at the speed of light.*

If you're struggling to figure out how to price and package your services, don't worry, you're not alone. Determining the right price points to start at and increase to is more of an art than a science, but you’ll get better at it as you gain more experience and establish a reputation for yourself.\

Here are some ideas on where to start or how to look at your current product line-up to ensure you’re maximizing your ROTII (Return on Investment of Time + Impact) - it’s a thing.

*I’ve been watching a lot of Star Trek lately. 

1. Gather Market Intelligence

One of the best ways to determine your pricing strategy is to look at what your competitors are offering. Research other career coaches and resume writers, particularly those who have been in business for a similar amount of time or offer services to the same niche, to get an idea of what they charge. 

Looking at experts with similarities helps gauge what the market will bear, but you don’t have to blindly follow the competition. 

Consider factors such as your unique value proposition, target audience, and local market demand. Depending on your circumstances, you may decide to charge more or less than your competitors, but it gives you a starting point (sanity check?).

2. Consider Your Expertise

Another factor to consider when pricing your services is your level of expertise. Are you a seasoned career coach with years of experience and a proven track record of success? Do you have five-star testimonials coming out of the wazoo? 

Or are you just starting out and looking to build your portfolio? 

Your level of experience should factor into your pricing structure; just be careful not to undersell yourself! Being new doesn’t mean you can't charge a fair price for your services, and the last thing you want to do is devalue yourself (for the future) or the industry as a whole. 

If you're confident in your abilities and can demonstrate your value to clients through the sales process, price your services accordingly. 

Oh, and then be sure to deliver on those promises! 

3. Offer Packages 

I love packages! Package, package, package!!! 

Curating your services into solutions that solve your clients’ problems makes it easy for you to sell and even easier for your clients to buy. 

Packaged solutions make it simple for the client to understand what they’re getting and allow you to offer additional services at a lower cost than if you sold them all separately. Plus, it gives clients a sense of “bundling joy” and confidence in their decision to work with you because of the perceived value in a total solution that promises outcomes.

One last note on packages: consider tiering to offer multiple price points aligned with clients’ experience levels. 

4. Test and Iterate

Pricing isn’t a locked-and-loaded kind of thing. Once you’ve set pricing, test your market - and your sales ability - on real prospects. If your conversions are super low, move down a few bucks until you see the conversions come back up; stick around there for a while and do it again once you get stronger (at selling and at coaching/resume writing!).  

Overpricing your services will limit growth while underpricing can hurt profitability. Finding that sweet spot takes time and experimentation - but you have all the control in setting prices for your services, and the data you collect from testing will be invaluable in the long run.

If you’re converting like a machine, it’s time to raise prices! Use your collected data to adjust pricing over time to reflect your ever-increasing value and outcomes. 

5. Enroll in Build Your Business

Yep. This is a shameless plug!

Luckily, it’s also a practical solution to your pricing and packaging woes because this is the first stop on our BYB journey. 

A new cohort kicks off next week, so there’s still time to join us! 

→ Check it out at parwcc.com/page/PBA

To leave on a serious note (like I’m ever THAT serious), pricing and packaging career coaching and resume writing services is a balancing act. 

Aim to set fair prices that reflect your value and expertise while remaining competitive and accessible to your target audience. Your pricing should make you feel slightly uncomfortable; that’s how you know you’ve hit the mark! 

Now go - go package, package, package! 

There’s no better way to see if you’ve dialed in the right offerings at the right price point than to try, so combat that sense of perfectionism, and put your wares out into the market. 

You never know who may walk through your (virtual) door.

Good luck! 

Your Friend and Coach, 

Angie

I've been doing some reading on the most common challenges entrepreneurs face when growing their businesses, and I've identified eight recurring follies that hold us back from reaching our full entrepreneurial potential.

Over the next several months, we'll dig into these hindrances right here in Spotlight. 

I'll provide tools, resources, and suggestions on how to overcome "Angie's Hateful Eight:" Self-doubt, financial management, delegation, time management, marketing strategy, productization, ego (eek!), and our starting point and the subject of this week's Boost Your Business Spotlight.

Gasp....perfectionism.

If there's one thing I've noticed as I've gotten to know more professional resume writers and career coaches - we're a smart bunch. 

We're methodical, insightful, informed, and knowledgeable in a range of topics. We love being experts in our fields (and everyone else's fields). We have opinions we love to share. 

We cross every t and dot every i, quite literally. 

We strive for perfection.

An error-free, grammatically perfect resume may be our goal for client delivery, but perfectionism can be a double-edged sword when it comes to planning new business initiatives and testing the market. While perfectionism can drive us to be our best selves (strength), it can also lead to procrastination, anxiety, and fear of putting anything out there if it isn't perfect (weakness).

--> Have you ever heard of Pareto's principle?

It's a principle that states that 80% of your results come from 20% of your effort.

It's easy to get bogged down in details, striving for the elusive 100% when there can be little additional value gained by that last push. When it comes to business, sadly, many entrepreneurs get stuck in the trap of allowing 80% of their efforts to drive 20% of results - working IN your business instead of ON your business, getting a small return on your investment, working harder not smarter - whatever you want to call it, perfectionism gets in the April way of progress.

> Shaking your head with a little realization over there? <

--> Here are some steps to turn things around!

Note: these recommendations apply to business initiatives - attempting to launch new products or services, creating social content, writing your LinkedIn posts, etc. - NOT client deliverables. ;)

1. Embrace an iterative approach: Instead of trying to make everything perfect before launching, consider creating what we tech people like to call an MVP (minimum viable product). 

This means launching your product or service with the features that are essential, preferably to a beta group that can test your service, provide feedback, and give you testimonials. You can then make improvements based on the feedback while getting your service out there earlier. Who doesn't want to start generating revenue sooner, anyway! 

2. Set realistic goals and deadlines: Perfectionists often struggle to let go of a project because they're never satisfied with the result. Be real with yourself, friends! Break down bigger projects into manageable tasks with specific deadlines, and reward yourself with some cake (or a ski day) when you hit them. 

This is a more realistic way to hold yourself accountable, build some endorphins by checking things off a list, and get into the "done is better than perfect" mode that helps combat endless tweaking and a never-ending quest for improvement.

3. Seek feedback and support: The entrepreneurial journey is NO FUN when walked alone. It's easy to get tunnel vision and get "in your head" about your product, service, brand, website, LinkedIn post...you name it for we perfect peaches! 

Find feedback and support from others - that's what PARWCC is for, by the way, #shamelessplug! 

Whether it's a trusted colleague, a mentor, your own coach, or an advisory board of clients, surround yourself with people who can give you wise counsel, share new perspectives, and provide insights that keep you moving forward!

4. Celebrate small wins: Focus on progress, not perfection; it's important to recognize that perfectionism is often an unattainable goal. 

Instead of striving for perfection, focus on making progress, focus on the 20% that will get you 80% output! Celebrate small wins and accomplishments along the way, and remind yourself that progress, even if it's imperfect, is still progress.

5. Practice self-compassion: Man, we like to beat ourselves up and often have outrageously high expectations for ourselves. Ditch self-critical talk and give yourself grace. Be kind and understanding to yourself, and acknowledge that making mistakes and experiencing setbacks is a normal part of owning, operating, and growing a business. 

As part of this, challenge the self-limiting beliefs that often fuel perfectionism and assumptions about our own abilities. Take a dose of your own medicine and follow the advice you give your clients! 

In summary, focus on key areas that will generate impact instead of obsessing over every little detail. Analyze your business and identify the 20% of tasks that will give you 80% of the results, and put your effort into those. You'll find that not only will you be able to accomplish more in less time, but you'll also free yourself from the shackles of perfectionism, and you’ll be trying out new products and services left and right (and clients will be flocking to them like flies on….)

Remember: no one starts off as a master. Perfection is great - it just shouldn't get in the way of progress! You don't have to get everything done to be successful; you're still loveable (and hireable) if you forget an Oxford comma in a resume. We all have room for improvement, we all make mistakes, and we all try things and fail. 

It's part of learning and growing as a coach, writer, and entrepreneur!

Your Friend and Coach, 

Angie Callen, CPCC, CPRW