It’s not easy.  We get that. Pink slips are raining from the sky like confetti.  Toyota just closed all but one of it’s assembly lines…. that should be a clue.  Times are tough and getting tougher.  But a game plan for getting that job, keeping money flowing in and food on the table is a must.

So…..I guess everyone starts with the usual: your local newspaper, online jobs boards, trade publications, CraigsList, and networking with your friends and family.

Don’t forget specialty boards.  Here’s one list : Where the Talent Is: 100 Sites to Find the Elite in Any-Given-Field.  And there are more: Google for your specific field.

For all the news on jobs and job openings, go to All Top Jobs,

For an overview of all the jobs available on the Net, go to one of the top job aggregators on the Net.

What Is a Job Aggregator? As explained by – Job-Hunt.org in  Finding Jobs on Job Aggregator Sites:”Think of them as narrowly-focused search engines. Jobs are all they have in their databases.

Sites like Indeed and Simply Hired collect job postings from other sites and aggregate them into one database to be searched by job seekers. The sites with jobs included in the aggregators’ databases include some that may surprise you – Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com, HotJobs.Yahoo.com, as well as many other job sites, large and small. Postings from Craigslist have not been included, recently, but many other sites are included.

Aggregators also include jobs from employer Web sites, which I think is the most promising aspect of what they do.
Why Use Job Aggregators?
Why are they better than Monster, for example?

• Comprehensive! Because they draw jobs from many, many other sources in addition to Monster (and you don’t have to fight your way through all of the Monster advertising to get to the search results or the job descriptions).
• Time saving! At one site (Indeed), you can search through the jobs posted on the Big 3 – Monster, CareerBuilder, and HotJobs with one search!

If they are just search engines, why and how are they better than, for example, Google?

• Because of their focus on jobs, they have additional functionality that makes them much easier to use for a job search. Want search results sorted by employer? By posting date? By full-time vs. part-time vs. contract? Within 25 miles of a specific city? Within 5 miles of that city? Within 50 miles?
• They have access to information, because they accept automated “feeds,” that may not ever be available on a search engine or may become available at some later point in time.
• Because all they have is job postings, the good ones will only return search results that are jobs.”

Go to LinkIn – The De Facto Resume Repository on the Net.

To really get into the nitty gritty of how to dig down and find that job which is perfect for you and get in to see the person who has the power to hire you, take Guy Kawasaki’s excellent and very detailed advice. Become a LinkedIn Power User in the service of your job hunt: How to Change the World: Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn to Find a Job.

All of these are tools for your job hunting tool kit.  But the best way to find a job is through a friend, associate or family member who knows you and is sold on your skills and special attributes.  So, do all of the above, but don’t forget to Network, Network, Network.  Tell everyone you see that you are looking for a job and practice you elevator pitch until you’re blue in the face.  That’s what pays off.

Good luck and happy hunting!

Related articles by Zemanta

• Blow Your Own Horn: Increase Your Visibility Using LinkedIn (advancingwomen.com)
• How To Start Finding Jobs With LinkedIn (advancingwomen.com)
• Indeed.com Wins Best Job Search Site (usnews.com)
• CAREER TOOLBOX: 100+ Places to Find Jobs (mashable.com)
• LinkedIn tips for job seekers (sauria.com)

Tags: CareerBuilder, Craigslist, Guy Kawasaki, LinkedIn, Monster.com, Yahoo! HotJobs

Of course, you know there are many more great business blogs out there.  For the moment, these are some that strike me as particularly useful.  If you’d like to add to the list, just post your comment and I’ll put it up.

So, here goes:

Career News & Job Search

All Top Career News:  a cornucopia of career news, articles, tips by hundreds of bloggers.

Job Mob: has some insightful articles and good tips.

Entrepreneurship

How To Change The World: Guy Kawasaki, is a pretty down to earth guy, but he is actually world famous as a tech entrepreneur, evangelist, author, speaker and blogger. He gets it, big time, and he shares his insights generously.

Toilet Paper Entrepreneur: If you can get beyond the initial toilet paper analogy, which is humorous, if a little indelicate, Mike Michalowicz offers good advice and tips for new entrepreneurs.

About Entrepreneurs: Scott Allen’s practical guide for entrepreneurs.

Planning Startups Stories, the very seasoned and successful Tim Berry’s blog, sharing his insights on starting your business.

Bootstrap Me: about bootstrapping, small business, entrepreneurs, start up.

Escape From Cubicle Nation: a favorite and one which will start you thinking about how to move on.

Marketing

Duct Tape Marketing: John Jantsch has to be at or close to the top when it comes to marketing.

Seth Godin’s Blog: marketing guru has insightful things to say about all things marketing

Winning the Web: internet marketing strategy and other very insightful tips on running a blog.

Social Networking

How To Change The World: Guy Kawasaki, from time to time, has more social networking how to information in one blog than others do all year.  Yes, I know I mentioned Kawasaki under entrepreneurs, which he definitely is, but he is an uber successful guy, who wears many hats, so I thought I’d mention him again in this context.

ChrisBrogan: one of the most popular social networking bloggers, sharing many moments of his life with you and informed tips on how to raise your social networking IQ.

Tech
TechCrunch: Tech news for those in the know.

Silicon Alley Insider if you like to keep up with gossip and goings on in Silicon  Valley

Related articles by Zemanta

• Social media is a tool and a mindset
• Quick Blogging Platform Posterous Gets $725K In Funding

Tags: blog, blogs, business, business blogs, careers, entrepreneur, Guy Kawasaki, jobs, John Jantsch, Seth Godin, Silicon Valley, tech, TechCrunch

I’m usually an “early adopter“.  I’m pretty much at the front of the line for new technology, cool gadgets, new forms of automation and new platforms.  But I’ve been slow to get up to speed on Twitter and I see that is a big mistake. Twitter is changing the world of marketing ourselves as we know it. Twitter is where it’s at and we all better get there soon.

I’m planning a crash course for myself on how to use Twitter most effectively to leverage the task of getting  known far and wide in the blogosphere with a ripple effect into the real world.

So let’s learn a little more about Twitter, shall we?

Guy Kawasaki is a tech evangelist and way ahead of you and me, probably, in being an early adopter of effective technology. Kawasaki, as we’ve noted, is sold on Twitter and has a lot to say about it.

In Kawasaki’s blog How to Change the World: MediaOnTwitter , he says: “Came across a very useful wiki called MediaOnTwitter. This wiki contains the a list of the reporters, journalists, and bloggers on Twitter. You can use this wiki in two ways:

Related articles by Zemanta

• More about Twitter – and why you should join

Tags: Alltop, Guy Kawasaki, MediaOnTwitter, Online Communities, Social network, Twitter, Wiki

Ok.  I’m going to offer a mini-series today on raising money for your business.  I’m not going to do it alone. I’m going to call on some experts to come into the room and help explain this.  I understand some of this may be a bit esoteric if you’re not out there trying to raise money from venture capitalists.  But I think it is extremely helpful anyway, because anyone who goes into business will need to raise money and keep raising it for a good while until you pass that magic threshold when the business is self sustaining.  So, here’s Guy Kawasaki ( and if you’re short on time, I suggest you at least watch the first video where Guy sums up 5 main points.)

How to Change the World: The Art of Raising Venture Capital – Guy Kawasaki

Related articles by Zemanta

• Cash is king
• If you can’t meet Guy Kawasaki, read him!
• Can A Startup Outside the Valley Make It? Guy Kawasaki Isn’t Too Sure

Tags: Angel investor, business, entrepreneur, funding, Guy Kawasaki, Investment, raising capital, start up business, Venture capital

Image via CrunchBase

Even if you have demonstrable skills and great results, what good will it do you if too few people know what a valuable asset you are to any company or any client?  Zero, or close to it, is the correct answer.  Remember that question: “If a tree falls in a forest and no one’s there to hear it does it make a sound?” Answer: no, it makes sound waves; someone has to hear the sound waves for them to be perceived as sound.  And someone has to hear about your successes, achievements and accomplishments for you to  be perceived as effective and successful. There is real currency in perception. And it is up to you to shape those perceptions.

I just Googled my name, Gretchen Glasscock and it returned 9,350 results.  It’s kind of scary, when you think about it, how much information is out there about you.  There’s a profile of me on Amazon.com from when I reviewed a book on the Net for them.  One of my Internet providers, of many moons ago, has a profile posted of me with nothing but my name.  Which makes it all the more important for you to write your own profile, which is accurate and which you have control over, so that is the first place potential clients and colleagues go when looking for information about you. ( Not the website with you wearing a party hat or your nieces and nephews climbing on your shoulder as your dog is kissing your ear and you are struggling for balance.)

First, let’s focus on Linked In

Guy Kawasaki, the popular VC and entrepreneur has provided us with Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn. I’m going to point out a couple of his tips, but I’d also like to say how much I’ve learned from Guy who is probably one of the most popular personalities on the Net.  It’s easy to see why, when you read his linked in profile.  He comes through as very engaging and personable. He says of his first degree from Stanford, before he went for his MBA:

“These were some of the happiest days of my life. I loved Stanford. Sometimes I wish I could go back to school there. By the way, I majored in Psychology because it was the easiest major I could find.

I think most of us have a tendency to make these facts too stiff and formal. I know I do.  And I’m going to go back and work on mine, to let my hair down a bit, and be more personal, like Guy is.  The end result is you, the reader, immediately think of Guy Kawasaki as approachable, someone who’d like to help you, which is, after all, what you want when your goal is for people to seek you out for your service or product,

Some of Guy Kawasaki’s advice for your Linked In page”

• Improve your connectability.

Most new users put only their current company in their profile. By doing so, they severely limit their ability to connect with people. You should fill out your profile like it’s an executive bio, so include past companies, education, affiliations, and activitiesYou can also include a link to your profile as part of an email signature. The added benefit is that the link enables people to see all your credentials, which would be awkward if not downright strange, as an attachment.

• Improve your Google PageRank.LinkedIn allows you to make your profile information available for search engines to index. Since LinkedIn profiles receive a fairly high PageRank in Google, this is a good way to influence what people see when they search for you.To do this, create a public profile and select “Full View.” Also, instead of using the default URL, customize your public profile’s URL to be your actual name. To strengthen the visibility of this page in search engines, use this link in various places on the web> For example, when you comment in a blog, include a link to your profile in your signature.
• Enhance your search engine results.In addition to your name, you can also promote your blog or website to search engines like Google and Yahoo! Your LinkedIn profile allows you to publicize websites. There are a few pre-selected categories like “My Website,” “My Company,” etc.If you select “Other” you can modify the name of the link. If you’re linking to your personal blog, include your name or descriptive terms in the link, and voila! instant search-engine optimization for your site. To make this work, be sure your public profile setting is set to “Full View.”

These small changes, which don’t take long to execute can make a huge difference how visible you are on the Net, and that is your first hurdle: Visibility.  We will work on the rest as we go along.

To read Guy Kawasaki’s  entire post go to Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn

Related articles by Zemanta

• Boost traffic to your Web site
• Search Engine Optimization Tips and Techniques
• Why Search Engine Optimization Important for Your Website?

Tags: blow your own horn, Google, Guy Kawasaki, PageRank, promote your business, promote yourself, Search engine optimization, Web search engine

Five Most Important Lessons I’ve Learned As An Entrepreneur – Guy Kawasaki

Popular entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and blogger, Guy Kawasaki understands business. Guy is a managing director of Garage Technology Ventures, columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine, and author of eight books on innovative business.  He’s a guy who should know what he’s talking about.  Here he expounds on the following principles:

1. Focus on cash flow.
2. Make a little progress every day
3. Try stuff.
4. Ignore schmexperts
5. Never ask anyone to do something that you wouldn’t do. ( And he’s funny too… listen to this advice:) This goes for customers (”fill out these twenty-five fields of personal information to get an account for our website”) to employees (”fly coach to Mumbai, meet all day the day you arrive, and fly back that night”). If you follow this principle, you’ll almost always have a good customer service reputation and happy employees.

But the most important of these, AdvancingWomen believes, particularly for start ups, is

“Focus on cash flow. …cash is what keeps the doors open and pays the bills. Paper profits on an accrual accounting basis is of no more than secondary or tertiary importance for a startup. As my mother used to say, “Sales fixes everything.”

Tags: business, cash flow, entrepreneur, entrepreneur lessons, Guy Kawasaki