Business and Marketing

When I am writing my resume there are 3 things I strive to remember and 5 things I have found I must include.

Let’s look at the 3 things to remember in resume writing:
• I must remember they want a specific job done, and they want to find the best person available at that time to do it.
• They want someone with a pleasing personality that is looking for an opportunity to grow further than the job they have available.
• They want me to be an interested and interesting human.

Here are the 5 things I’ve found I must include in writing my resume:
• What the job opening is, exactly, and my interpretation of it.
• My experience and workplace teamwork skills as it relates to the job opening.
• My education as it relates to the job opening and resume objective statement, especially any classes, seminars, or conferences that I have attended in the last 2 years.
• A glance at my life away from work.
• And the critical element: absolute correctness.

Now let’s switch seats. Let’s look at a resume from the reader’s point of view. My reader has a few or a few dozen resumes to read. I have 15 – 30 seconds to get them interested. How do I do that? I want to be professional, but not boring. I want to be excited about the opportunity and my experience, but constrained. I want them to say, “I want to meet this person.”

Here’s how I accomplish the above goals in my resume writing:

Remembering that they want to find the best available person to fill this position, I want to state clearly my understanding of what they want and correlate my experience with these responsibilities. (Remember that both paid and volunteer experience is experience.)

Example: This job opening is for a sales manager. I have been a sales manager for XYZ Company for over 1 year. The sales increase over the previous year was x%. Year to date, we are tracking at x% over the same period last year. My greatest satisfaction is in developing the sales personnel and congratulating them on their excellent achievements.

I want to let them know I value education and take time to improve my current skills and development new ones.

Example: Last year I attended at 2 day seminar on sales management, took an ecourse in leadership (weekly for 3 months and exam at end), and a 1 day conference in “How to Maximize Marketing and Advertising through your Sales Staff.” I implemented several ideas which resulted in lowering account turnover and increasing new accounts. I have attended 2 1-day seminars this year and have registered for a 2-day conference in _____.

I want to give them a glimpse of my private life—but not a whole history. The purpose is to show I am well rounded and a team player in the various facets of my life.

Example: I’ve been married to my lovely wife, Candace, for 7 years. We have 2 children; a girl in school and a boy in preschool. We are active in our church activities. We help in community activities as we can. I love baseball and can hardly wait to get my son in T-ball.

The critical element—without which I cannot get an interview even if they want to see me—is that my contact information is correct. My address, my phone numbers, my email address must be correct. The same is true for contact information of previous employers and/or volunteer leaders.

My last thoughts are to keep my resume writing to 1 or 1 and a half pages, use active verbs, and keep language positive. Then practice my response: “Yes, I’d appreciate the opportunity to speak with you in person.”  Next, prepare a list of questions to take with me to the interview.

That first consultation with the bride and groom is all important. Having a great wedding photography portfolio that’s going to make the bride cry as she imagines her big day is going to give you a great chance of landing the commission.

But if you’re just starting off, it’s difficult to get a decent collection of images to show off your skills. Here’s a look at some solutions that I hope will help.

1. Follow A Photographer

When I first started out, I rang round all my friends and asked who was going to a wedding that year. I then asked those if I could get in touch with the bride and groom to see if I could come along and shoot the entire wedding for them, as well as the main photographer, and if they could also check if it was ok with them too. The couple got the disc of photos for free.

I got four weddings out of this and over 1000 shots to play with. What’s more, I did my best not to get in the way and a couple of the photographers gave me loads of advice, not to mention everything I learnt just from watching them at work.

I remember watching a little bit confused as one photographer charged off down a path out of sight, with the bride and groom nowhere to be seen. He wanted to get a nice shot of the couple walking down the reception steps on to the lawns of this country house. Guessing what’s coming next is half the battle.

2. Assist

You can formerly assist, either paid or free of charge. Pick a photographer you admire and know a little bit about so you can pick up some great insights from them. You ideally want to be able to work as a second camera of course so you can build up your portfolio as you go.

3. Work For Free

In this case, not as an assistant, but for a bride and groom at their wedding, and with you working as the main and probably only photographer. You might want to charge a little, but for the first one or two weddings, take the pressure off yourself by doing it gratis and go for it. This way, you will have a full wedding to show prospective clients, something that many people will ask to see as well as your favorite shots.

4. Test Test Test

Go to a church, reception venue, outside at night and in low light, take shots of friends and family, and test out as many situations you might face at a wedding as you possibly can. I cannot recommend this enough. It feels a bit odd at first, but you need to get over that hurdle to become a good photographer.

5. Make It Look Great

When you finally get round to putting together your portfolio, you are likely going want to work with a combination of media, including sample albums, printed work and something that works great for me, a slideshow set to great (not tacky) music. Make it all look stunning, absolutely perfectly presented. Before you know it, you’ll be providing tissues too for the emotional bride who would love to have you are her photographer.

Good luck, and if you need any more info, please be sure to check out my site http://photographygems.com/. Happy shooting…

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One of the fastest growing industries is without doubt the offshore access industry. This growth is mainly possible because both market segments this industry serves are demanding more and more orders. The market consists of the offshore wind industry and the offshore oil & gas industry. This article will analyze both market segments in detail and what the impact of this all will be on the offshore access industry.

The Market

The offshore wind industry has been growing with rapid speed in the last decade. For example, in 2009 there was a growth rate of 54% in Europe (EWEA, 2010). The growth has been tempered down because of the credit crunch but analysts like Frost & Sullivan report that interest in wind power is rising, with new investment opportunities both in the onshore and offshore wind energy markets. Another favorable fact for the players in the offshore wind industry is that many wind parks are planned to be built in the near future. Germany for example has 40 projects of wind parks that will be constructed in the following years (Business Week, 2009).

The oil and gas industry is growing in an even more spectacular speed than the offshore wind industry. Offshore oil production has risen by just over a third since 1991 and is forecasted to continue to rise at about the same rate, reaching 35 million bpd in 2011. However, offshore gas production has more than doubled in the same period, to 867 Bcm in 2006, or 14.9 MMboe/d. Furthermore, it is forecasted to almost double again by 2011. Such steady increases in oil production and surging gas production will drive expenditures from $219 billion in 2006 to over $275 billion by 2011 (All Business, 2007). Currently, there are opportunities at the coast of Brazil where massive oil discoveries were made and therefore a great demand for offshore access solutions is arising. The most important criteria for the offshore oil & gas industry is offshore safety. There have been accidents in the past, and this can inflict severe damage on reputation of the company in question.

The Future of the Offshore Access Industry

It can be concluded that the industry is in the middle of a growth stage. The market has a variety of players who differentiate within the characteristics of their services. So far, there is no superior solution that outranges the others (e.g. helicopter, jack up platform, direct access with small boats).

The market in general is growing faster than the number of actors who provide solutions for safe work and transfer in the offshore business. This results in the fact that each company in this field of business has the opportunity to enlarge their market share easily. Companies are improving their service, while they try to maintain their market share and new entrants try to strengthen their market position. This shows that the market is not close to reach maturity yet but is rather located in the growth stage with an upward trend. Therefore, it would be a good idea to invest in certain companies in this industry, or search a job at an offshore employer.

Delays or unreliability are big issues in this industry as profits are only made when the offshore facilities run properly. Offering quickly available systems worldwide while keeping high standards at minimum price will be the biggest challenge in a mature market.

There are very few economically sound businesses that allow you to create vast amounts of wealth with very little start up costs. One of these businesses, “green” house cleaning, has become increasingly popular due to the intense demand for the services that are provided.

While cleaning jobs are some of the oldest jobs available to the masses, the current global environmental crisis has catapulted cleaning services using environmentally friendly home cleaning supplies to the top of the list.

Everyone likes to feel like that are making a positive impact on the world in some way, shape, or form, and your clients love the idea of getting their homes thoroughly cleaned, and helping the environment at the same time.  The main thing that you need to start performing green house cleaning jobs, are the cleaning supplies.

Because you are only using environmentally friendly cleaning solutions and tools, the amount of money you will have to spend will be drastically reduced, when compared with most commercial home cleaning businesses.  The main equipment items you should purchase are:

• Mops
• Buckets
• Brooms
• Spray bottles
• Cloths
• Vacuum cleaner(Typically a nonissue because homeowners generally have their own, which helps prevent undesirable things such as cross contamination)
• Squeegee(only when providing window cleaning services)

Once these items have been purchased, you should decide which environmentally friendly cleaning solutions you will be using. You should choose solutions that are very good and both disinfecting and deodorizing surface areas.

You should take into account that you will have to thoroughly explain to your potential clients what your cleaning solution contains, and whether or not it is safe to use. Because of this you should be highly familiar with your chosen cleaning solution, and if at all possible you should use cleaning ingredients that everyone is familiar with such as baking soda.

Most cleaning supplies are relatively cheap, so you would be wise to purchase everything in bulk, because once you gain a loyal client base your supplies will quickly run out.  To further minimize overall cost, you could easily create your own environmentally friendly house cleaning solutions and polishes.These cleaning solutions can contain both disinfectant and anti-bacterial/viral properties, which are vital to successful cleaning.

These “green” alternatives are far better than most commercial cleaning supplies, and are significantly safer for the environment.  Your potential clients will be eternally grateful that they don’t have to inhale toxic fumes, during and after your cleaning job is completed.  By using these cost effective homemade cleaning solutions, you are saving a significant amount of money, and doing your part to help the environment.

One of the most common household cleaning ingredients is vinegar. Vinegar is considered an all-purpose cleaner, and can easily clean and disinfect most areas. To create a vinegar cleaning solution, you should mix one part vinegar(white) with one part water and put them in one of your spray bottles.

Because you do not want to cause damage to your client’s property, you should always ask if the areas you are attempting to clean can handle vinegar. If your clients don’t know, you should spray a small amount on an isolated area to determine whether or not it would be beneficial to use.

As a general rule, this cleaning solution would be put to the best use in the bathroom and kitchen areas. Although the smell is irritating to some, after it dries the smell will dissipate and your clients will be satisfied with the quality of the house cleaning jobs you have provided.

You can also create a great “green” cleaning solution by taking the baking soda mentioned earlier, and mixing it with your common household bottle of vinegar. This creates a great paste that is ideal for scrubbing certain appliances such as stoves and sinks.  Baking soda also contains the ability to absorb most odors, and therefore would be quite useful when cleaning appliances such as the bathroom toilet.

You could also place a moderate amount on your client’s carpets and rugs prior to using the vacuum to absorb any odors that the carpets may be emitting.

The last cleaning ingredient that is both cost effective and valuable is lemons. By using lemons, which are known for their various cleaning properties, you will easily create a cleaning solution that blows mainstream cleaning products out of the water.

In fact, if you look at the vast majority of popular commercial cleaning supplies, you will notice that one of the main ingredients is almost always lemons. By mixing lemon juice and water you will create a very effective cleaning solution.

You may also polish your client’s furniture using olive oil and lemon juice which polishes wooden furniture nicely, and leaves a lovely smell behind.

By creating a professional cleaning business that is devoted to offering environmentally friendly cleaning solutions, you will quickly find yourself with more potential clients than you can handle, and you will begin to make large amounts of money in a relatively short period of time.

By providing these services, you are serving you fellow human being in a way that not only solves their problem, but helps keep the earth we live on healthy as well.

Many people are intrigued by the idea of becoming a freelance writer but many of them also are stopped by the fear of not having any experience and of not knowing how to get started. These are important questions, but it is equally important to understand that fear is the enemy. One important thing that all beginning writer should know is that there not been a ruing their whole career because they mess up something on week one. A major part of the process of becoming a great freelance writer is learning from experience and that includes mistakes. In fact there are many writers who believe their most valuable lessons in their most valuable growth came from major mistakes. Take this to mean that it’s okay to mess up when you’re getting started. While you always want to do the best job that you can, you are going to make mistakes. That’s just part of being a freelance writer.

In modern times there are actually two ways to break into the writing market. There are still the traditional print publications and occasionally you still find in-house writers for certain types of businesses. However more and more often many writers are beginning their careers online, and many very successful freelance writers do nothing but online writing. Even those writers who ghostwrite or write pamphlets and other print materials will often be found by employers online work through an auction site, professional blog, or professional networking site. In fact, it would be remiss of a modern freelance writer to not have an online presence of some kind.  This is often one of the first pieces of advice when you look up blog posts on how to be a freelance writer.

If you need money quickly one of the best ways to start is by writing for content mills. Many online websites pay their writers on a per article basis. These websites will often pay $10, $15, or even $20 an article. For gaining quick confidence and some decent money in your pocket this is a great place to start. However in the long term you will want to find private clients. Many writers start out with auction-based websites like Guru.com or Elance.com and eventually find clients who just deal directly with them after enough positive experience. Other writers go with the traditional and classic cold calls and look for work from employers in a field that they may have some expertise in. If you write for a wide number of people and do good work you might be surprised how often that you eventually leads to referrals and how clients will introduce you to more clients.

Early on if you need money from writing you should definitely concentrate on the freelance writing and don’t worry about passive income until a little bit later. On the other hand, if you have many months of savings or you have a job I just looking for something else then you’ll definitely want to study the many different passive income models online. From acting as an affiliate for Amazon to putting Google AdSense on a high-traffic website, or even writing and publishing popular Kindle e-books, there are many different methods you can use to make a full-time passive income. If this part of writing online seems a little bit overwhelming and alien and I strongly recommend taking a look at the Keyword Academy in signing up for our monthly program which teaches you all you need to know about setting up websites, ranking in the search engines, monetizing your websites, and everything in between.

There are several types of labels. Some are used for products, while others are used on the internet or on computers. Security labels are a special type since these get to manage information and keep unauthorized individuals from getting any data unless proper approval and permit are given. Security labels may come in different forms but the approach and objective are generally the same. Here are some more guidelines and tips.

Overview

Security labels give a unique function on how information is accessed and managed. Several high security places require the security labels. Security labeling is used for non-electronic applications, as well as for paper documents and other products. Even electronic documents and other products and programs online can also have security labels.

The Model

Security labels generally function by tagging documents and items as “top secret”, “secret” or “strictly confidential”. The document will have the tag outside to prevent unauthorized access to the files and information. Individuals who have proper clearance can open the document, although top secret documents are only limited to a few names. The label can be given to almost any type of information. The person with security clearance will be the only one who can access the document.

Information will be provided upon matching the clearance with the individual who intends to access it with regards to the security label. For example, a document labeled “top secret” will have corresponding names of individuals who are the only ones allowed to access the information. A person who has “top secret” clearance can view it, but another who only has “secret” will not be allowed. The clearance might also be implied on location. For example, some levels or rooms may only be accessed by individuals who have matching clearances.

Using Security Labels

Security labels are used in a variety of applications, although mainly for protection and management of information. Complex models tend to be full of errors, so the security label and clearance model provides a simpler and more straightforward approach to information management. Clearances can be controlled even for big groups or several individuals, belonging to various companies or even located in different places. Other approaches do not tend to be practical, especially where big groups are included. Schemes that are not practical include the listing on every document of the persons who can view, recording of every user and which files can be accessed, as well as the maintenance of independent list.

Descriptions on the Label

Security labels can be classified differently, depending on the type of information the files hold, as well as the type of group or people who can access it. Some of the known classifications include: unclassified, secret, top secret, confidential, restricted or protected. The schemes can be ordered in a way that someone who can access the “higher” files can immediately access the less confidential files. People who can only access limited information will not be allowed to view the “higher” files.

More on Security Labels

The classification will not instantly provide control to the person in many instances. Security labels can include other information. Security labels, several times, are used to manage data relating to national security. The information will then be controlled according to nation or country. The category will be managed based on the location of the information recipient. The agency might also manage the data according to topic. Individuals then need to be cleared of both the category and classification first before accessing the file. The category will differ and the names might also change depending on the country or location. The scheme has to be understood well to properly manage the data and determine which individuals can or cannot access readily.