Tag: entrepreneurship | Page 8

Overqualified? Really??

Thursday, March 29th, 2012|

A friend of mine recently heard that she had not landed a job because she is “overqualified.” She was gobsmacked!

What does that mean? How could that be a bad thing? She wanted to know, and I’m sure there are many out there wondering the same thing – “How can anyone be overqualified for an empty position?”

With today’s poor, although improving, employment climate, there are many highly experienced but unemployed folks out there looking for work. Some of them are moving into freelance projects and entrepreneurship, but some are changing career paths and applying for entry-level roles in new industries, perhaps at a lower salary than they previously earned and with fewer or no direct reports.

I asked our team of recruiters what it means when a job seeker is told they are “overqualified” and what it might mean about their experience in relation to that specific position:

You may have more experience than the person that you will report to.
You may have a higher salary requirement than what they are willing to pay.
You may take a position and then be more likely to leave because you are working below your potential and are not challenged by the work.
The person you would be reporting to is intimated by your skills and knowledge.
Someone with too many years of experience may have work habits that are hard to break. The position might want someone more “green” so they can “mold” them to fit the company’s style and culture.

At the end of the day, turnover and training are both expensive. A company wants to know that the investments they make in new employees will not have to be repeated anytime soon. Most companies would prefer to leave a position vacant until the right person can be found, rather than hire and then lose someone who is overqualified who takes “the first job that comes along”.

If you are one of the highly-experienced job seekers in the market, here are a few ways to avoid appearing overqualified for positions, before you ever have an interview:

Edit your resume bullet points – Replace the accomplishments that don’t apply to this role with ones that do. Or simply remove them. Be sure to include keywords for the current position in your bullets.
Education – List any degrees or certifications that are relevant to the role, but leave out more advanced degrees. Your Ph.D. or MBA is an incredible accomplishment! But do you need it to get this job?
Cover Letter – A cover letter is really the only way to express why you would be challenged and excited about the role, even if you might appear to be further along in your career on your resume.

Remember that your resume is simply a tool for standing out in a pool of candidates. As long as everything on your resume is true, it doesn’t have to tell your whole life story.

Wendy Stackhouse, for Artisan Creative

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Pinterest for Creatives

Thursday, March 1st, 2012|

I keep reading about Pinterest and so, of course, I started wondering…

Should I join?
What do I do with it?
Will it help me with anything or just be another social platform?

So I started my boards and took a look around, but found myself still a bit puzzled.

Pinterest is basically a photo-sharing platform. A place to “pin” images of things you like and are interested in. You can put a button in your browser’s toolbar that will put almost any image you see online on one of your pinboards, with the opportunity to make a comment on it. These could be your own images or those of others that you see when you are browsing. You don’t have to download and upload as you do on other platforms.

Pinterest is definitely great for businesses that sell products. They can add a “Pin It” button to images of their offerings and customers can add those things to their pinboards, which will be seen by everyone who is following them. That’s a lot of free advertising!

Pinterest is also good for service businesses which use a portfolio of work to increase their client base. Web design companies can certainly benefit from having a pinboard of their work available here.

For the same reason, Pinterest may be a good platform for freelancers and entrepreneurs. You can pin your latest work from all different sources into one board and use that as your online portfolio site. Web and graphic designers, photographers, and artists especially will benefit from having pinboards of their work available on this platform. You can also find other people on Pinterest with similar interests that you might want to connect with. Some people are also pinning their resumes, especially the new infographic styles.

Why might Pinterest be better than other photo sharing sites? In my opinion, the advantage lies in the board concept itself. Rather than looking one at a time at photos on Flickr, or a giant page of uncategorized photos, pinboards are collections of related items. Someone who is checking out your design aesthetic can get a good overview of your logos, for example, with one click. And knowing who else likes the same thing you like might be an excellent bit of information.

I’m still a newbie at Pinterest and have been pinning mostly knitting patterns so far. I would love to hear what you think of Pinterest and if you’ve thought of any great uses for creatives, so please let me know in the comments!

Wendy Stackhouse, for Artisan Creative

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How to Say “Yes” Without Driving Yourself Crazy

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012|

Creatives, your skills are in high demand by many organizations, businesses, and individuals. Sometimes even by friends—if they need a website, advertising copy, graphics or other creative work produced.

Last Sunday a dear friend asked me if I could design a website for his new business. He doesn’t have a lot of money to spend and thinks of me as someone who could provide a good product. I’m very glad he has confidence in my abilities, and as much as I would like to help him, I don’t have time to do his project unless I take time away from something else that pays better.

When I do have time to add a project, however, sometimes I go ahead and say “Yes!” – even if there’s little or no monetary reward. What are the factors that help me decide?

Passion—If the project is for a cause in which I believe strongly, I will carve out the time. Volunteering our skills (or offering them for much less than the market rate) for worthy causes is personally fulfilling and adds value to any project.
Career Development—I will probably say “yes” if I think that I will learn something new from the project, meet or work with someone in my field who could be a good contact, gain a skill or client that could improve my resume or add to the strength of my portfolio. This type of work experience is also a great way to fill in gaps in your work history or get great references!
Respect—It is always surprising to me how often volunteers are treated disrespectfully as if they are only worth what they are being paid. Having worked as a professional with volunteers and as a volunteer with professionals, volunteers deserve more respect, not less. If you treat me respectfully, I am likely to help you out over and over again. Amazing how something that simple can create such loyalty.

Yes. It is hard to say “no” to a friend without feeling guilty, I know. But if you have the time, don’t need the money, and can think of some way that investment of time capital pays off for you, everyone can benefit from your talent!

Wendy Stackhouse for Artisan Creative

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Artisan Places Talent in All 5 of the “Hardest Jobs to Fill in 2012”

Thursday, January 5th, 2012|

I saw an article in Inc. Magazine this week about the 5 Hardest Jobs to Fill in 2012 so I clicked to see what they could possibly be, and I was in for quite a surprise!

In today’s rough economy, everyone with a good idea is starting their own business and they all need great websites with fantastic graphic design, user-friendly interfaces and talented staff to design, manufacture and sell their products and services. This tremendous growth in entrepreneurship is leading to a great deal of demand in these 5 creative fields:

1. Web Developers—Web Developers are in high demand, especially in major metropolitan areas like Los Angeles and San Francisco. Every business needs a website or they cannot function in today’s business climate.

1. Creative Design and User Experience—Companies are having trouble finding talent with a demonstrated track record in these areas. If you have an extensive portfolio with top work and are looking for new opportunities, you are in good shape. There are more opportunities than can be filled.

1. Product Management—Especially in the area of eCommerce, companies need people with experience in customer interaction and working in the cloud.

1. Online Marketing—Tech-savvy communicators with great language and interpersonal skills don’t grow on trees. Companies need Marketers who can generate viral traffic through the web, social media, and engaging content. Talented writers and bloggers who really know the interactive space are in high demand.

Analytics—Thanks to the variety of measurement tools available, CEO’s are starting to understand the value of search and social media, but now they demand the best ROI. Analysts who can show C-level executives how their marketing strategies are working to build their business will do very well next year.

It looks like 2012 will be a good year for creatives—let us know if Artisan can help you find talent or find a perfect role in the New Year!

Wendy Stackhouse, for Artisan Creative

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Freelancers: Use Online Marketing to Kickstart 2012

Thursday, December 29th, 2011|

We are about to go into a quiet time of year, whether you choose to work less or there is just less work, and so it is a good time to think about what you can do to get a jumpstart on your freelancing in 2012.

With today’s technology, it is easy and cost-effective to do some online marketing for your career as a freelance entrepreneur. Let’s look at some ways to make online marketing work for you:

Social Media Profiles – Now is a great time to take a look at all of your social media profiles to make sure they:
- Reflect most recent work experience
- Are Consistent
- Tell your story
- Use keywords to help search engines find your skills
- Have been carefully edited for professional purposes
Facebook Timelines – You’ve probably heard that Facebook profiles are changing into timelines, but you might not know that you need to go to your timeline and make sure there is nothing posted there from the past that you don’t want potential clients to see. You might not have been as careful in 2006 or ’07 about the photographs you posted and Timelines make it much easier for people to see your posts of long ago.
New Platforms – While you have a couple of free hours, set up your Google+ Circles, and start getting comfortable there. Still new-kid-on-the-block, Google+ may very well be a big player in 2012.
Build or Tweak Your Website – If you are a Designer, you have a website, but maybe you haven’t had time to update it for a while. If you are in other creative fields, it is great to have a website of your own and there are free and inexpensive places to host. A domain name only costs $10 a year and Google Sites is one place where you can build a site easily without any knowledge of coding.
Start a Blog – Since you are an entrepreneur, you own a business—you! Your business needs a blog where you can talk about recent projects, things that inspire you, link to articles that are interesting, and give the world your take on current creative trends. Give blogging a try, it’s fun!
Comment – If you’re like me, even on your downtime you’re surfing the web for interesting information. Now is the time to take a moment to comment on relevant articles in your field or in LinkedIn Group discussions and build your credibility. If you add a link to your website or blog, you might increase your own traffic as well.

See, you thought you had nothing to do over the holiday break! Get to work!

Wendy Stackhouse, for Artisan Creative

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To Work or Not to Work, That is the Question: Freelancing over the Holidays

Tuesday, December 20th, 2011|

If you are like me, you are busy with holiday preparations while still maintaining a busy freelance work routine. There are a lot of extra things to do this time of year: shopping, baking, social events, writing cards.

Even volunteer opportunities abound at this time of year, with everyone holding holiday fundraisers and toy drives.

It’s easy to look forward to some quiet time when everything closes down for a few days of family celebration, but for a freelancer, there’s no such thing as a paid holiday. It can be hard to relax when you know your income will be affected by your time off.

Here are some ways to handle taking time off without worry:
Plan Ahead

It might be too late for this year, but next year you can be mindful about putting some money aside so that you can take a couple of weeks off for the holidays.

Reach Out

If you want to take on some extra work or try to keep busy, get in touch with your clients and make sure they know you’re available to do last minute projects or pick up projects that have stalled because their regular staff is on vacation.

For creatives, now is a great time to come up with a new graphic design or image to put on a holiday ecard and send it out to your network!

Schedule Your Free Time

Everyone deserves a break this time of year, so carve out some specific time for yourself and quality time with your family and friends. If you look at your calendar and it says “Christmas Party, 7-11pm” you won’t feel guilty when you walk out the door!

Post-Date Some Blog Posts

If a holiday falls on a day when you would normally publish a blog post for yourself or a client, write a holiday-themed post in the days leading up to your day off and schedule it to post on the day you plan to be roasting chestnuts.

Here’s the most difficult task, though.

Don’t feel guilty!

If work slows down, try to think of it as a gift. Appreciate the precious time you have with your loved ones. Use it to play board games, cook together, spend time at home doing that you don’t normally have time for, but that don’t cost a lot. Walk around and see the holiday lights in your neighborhood. Think up projects for the new year. Watch old movies and drink lots of tea.

Everyone at Artisan Creative wishes you and yours a wonderful, relaxing, and guilt-free holiday season!

Wendy Stackhouse, for Artisan Creative

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Managing Your Brand

Thursday, December 15th, 2011|

Not only are you an entrepreneur, you are a brand. If you are participating in social media, your brand has a logo, a mission statement, and work product that other people might want to buy or invest in. Or it should!

It is important to make sure that your brand is consistent and sending the messages that you want it to send across your entire internet presence so that no matter where a potential client might look, he or she will find the information needed to decide whether they want to start a business relationship with you.

Here are some things to think about when managing your brand online:

On Facebook
Especially important if you are a freelancer, have a Facebook Page for yourself as a Business Person as well as a Profile for your personal friends. This gives people you don’t know a window into your work if Facebook is their favorite social media platform.

This Page is a place you can put links to your blog, your work from your online portfolio, or interesting news about you and your business life.

Don’t forget to keep it updated!

Your Logo
The image you use in your profile on any platform is your logo. For some with an actual company or brand name – this should be your designed logo. For others – your photo is the perfect representation of your brand.

If using a photo, it should be close-up enough for someone who’s meeting you at a coffee shop to recognize you when they get there. It shouldn’t be your cat or your baby – cute as they are. Save that for your friends. Use the same photo across all social media platforms. If you want to be creative with it, you can make your photo seasonal, but, again, be consistent and change it everywhere.

Mission Statement
Your Facebook Page Info tab, your LinkedIn profile, and your Twitter profile all provide a place for you to put your mission statement.

Don’t think you have a mission statement? What are you passionate about? Why do you do what you do? Why are you so committed to your work? Your mission statement can be found in there. Once established, it’s important to keep your mission statement consistent across platforms.

Links
Be sure to provide links to your pages, profiles, feeds, and portfolio wherever you can: email signature, business cards, ecards for holidays, resume, everywhere. Make it easy to find you, find out about you, and contact you for work!

I’ve had quite a few potential clients find me through blog posts, Facebook updates, and LinkedIn group updates for my current clients. They are comfortable with me even before we meet because they have seen my work, are familiar with my “voice” and can assess my communication skills. Consistent branding has led to a good “Return on Investment” of my time capital and it will for you, too!

Wendy Stackhouse for Artisan Creative

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Time Management Tips for Freelance Entrepreneurs

Friday, November 18th, 2011|

“Freelance Entrepreneur” might sound like an oxymoron, but freelancing is entrepreneurship at its most basic. Entrepreneurship means taking risks with your income, your career, your security in the service of innovation.

As a freelancer your capital isn’t money, it’s time.

As a Freelance Entrepreneur, you offer your capital to others to help complete their projects. How you spend that capital is up to you. You choose what projects you want to work on, you choose with whom you work, and you choose when you want to do the work.

If you think of your time as capital, you can also think if it as an investment. Then it becomes very clear that your time needs to be managed well in order to make it grow. We would all like the time we have with our families or the time we spend pursuing our passions to be greater. The more successful our investments, the more rewards we will reap.

Here are some tips for managing your capital:

Start with a plan. Whether you plan a week in advance, the night before for the next day, or in the morning before you jump into the day’s work – plan your time. Although you need to be flexible—you never know when a client will call with an emergency—try to stick to the plan.
Set goals for the day. You will never feel like you accomplished anything if you don’t know what it was you set out to accomplish.
Set an ending time for work. You will be more productive if you know when you’re going to step away from the computer. Without an end time, there is a greater temptation to continue working on things you don’t need to and, therefore, never accomplish what you set out to do.
Take scheduled breaks. Walk away. Stretch. Look at something other than the screen. Go outside. When you plan out the day, plan your breaks too.
Track your time. This is easy to overlook. If you set a specific amount of time to work on something – make sure you keep to that schedule. If you need more time – and have to push something else back – make up for it tomorrow. By knowing how much time you work on projects – you can also better manage your time on future projects that are similar in nature.

I’m not always good at following my own guidelines, but I’m resolved to try. When I plan my day and know that I spent enough time on each project, I don’t feel guilty when break time comes and I get to spend a relaxing evening with my family. And isn’t that the real reason we’re freelancers?

Wendy Stackhouse, for Artisan Creative

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Are You an Entrepreneur? Yes, You Are!

Thursday, November 17th, 2011|

No matter what industry or field you work in, whether you work for a multinational corporation, a mom-and-pop storefront, or in your home office, you are an entrepreneur. Congratulations!

Today’s workforce will have a completely different career experience from their parents and grandparents. Gone are the days of getting an entry-level job out of college, moving up, and retiring, all in the same company. Also gone are the days of having one career your entire working life, even if you change employers.

Today’s workforce is will change jobs every 3-5 years. Today’s workforce will have between three and seven entirely different careers. Whether you work for yourself or for others, if you think of yourself as an entrepreneur, you will succeed at life as well as work.

Entrepreneurs start new ventures despite the risks. Are you an Entrepreneur?

I work in an office. How am I an Entrepreneur?

You are a person with skills, providing a product. You take risks by spending your time on someone else’s projects in the hope that they will give you more business and eventually give you the opportunity to start something new. You are an entrepreneur.

I work in retail. How am I an Entrepreneur?

Working in a retail business doesn’t feel like entrepreneurship, but you can think of it as an internship by immersion. If retail is where you want to be, you can use this experience to learn the business from the bottom up and pick up lessons you could never learn any other way. You take the risk that the time you spend training will be valuable when you start your own new venture. You are an entrepreneur.

I am an artist. How am I an Entrepreneur?

If an artist does not think like an entrepreneur, no one will ever see their work. Artists are not traditionally comfortable with the business aspects of their careers, but without sales, all you have is living room full of paintings. Without auditions and demo tapes, you’re just singing in the shower.

Artists are familiar with risk and being accountable only to themselves. All they need is to put some of their drive into making art a business. If you are not thinking about marketing, you are missing out on a big part of your career. You are an entrepreneur!

I am a freelancer. How am I an Entrepreneur?

This one is easy! Your business is yourself. You develop a brand, a list of customers and a marketing strategy. You are out there scratching for more business and making connections to broaden your customer base. You are taking a risk every day that you might not have a steady income stream. You are clearly an entrepreneur.

I read an article on the Entrepreneurs’ Organization website called “What’s Your Personal Culture?” It really spoke to me about how to achieve an entrepreneurial mindset. If you have a clear mission, make smart business decisions about where to spend your time, and develop and implement a marketing strategy for yourself, you are indeed an Entrepreneur.

Wendy Stackhouse for Artisan Creative

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Global Entrepreneurship Week

Tuesday, November 15th, 2011|

This week entrepreneurship is being celebrated in 123 countries engaging more than 10 million current and aspiring entrepreneurs worldwide during Global Entrepreneurship Week. Entities such as The Kaufman Foundation and EO are helping the world learn how entrepreneurs are driving the change we need to overcome these challenging times. By coming together to share their collective experience, participating entrepreneurs will inspire and support the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Kiva is just one prime example of how a small group of entrepreneurs can positively impact a much broader base of global ones, by giving them the opportunity to build something that will return on their investment. Who knows the impact a week as this will have on the entrepreneurs of tomorrow!

Whether by necessity or choice, the entrepreneurial spirit comes from within, and in many ways the freelancers our company works with are entrepreneurs. By running their own business every day – selling, marketing, creating, invoicing, and collecting – freelancers face the same business challenges that entrepreneurs do.

I encourage each of our freelancers to spend some time this week learning about what it takes to change your community and the world as an entrepreneur!

Jamie Douraghy, President

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