Meerkat Communications

We have been so lucky to have an unseasonably warm winter and a very early start to the spring. Although from the perspective of  VANOC and the rest of the Olympic organisers, it was one of the headaches experienced during the two week fiesta that was the Winter Olympics 2010, the magnolia and cherry blossoms, daffodils and rhododendrons are coating the city in soft pinks and yellows and it has been beautiful out there.

Personally, I stayed away from the Olympic madness as much as possible and enjoyed the sunshine and the break from teaching. It was nice to have two weeks of catch up. It is also nice to finally have things back to normal, though there was a definite infectious buzz. A lot of things seem to have been postponed during the Olympics, which is no surprise considering the volume of people in the city and the impossibility of negotiating the downtown core without hours of spare time. It seems eerily empty and quiet now; possibly a lot of sore heads and hoarse throats out there!

Here at Meerkat, we have new web copy projects on the go, and I will be speaking at an upcoming The Connected Woman Mix and Mingle Networking Event on April 13th on using effective business writing techniques to “get past the gatekeeper”. The Connected Woman is a fantastic organisation run by the dynamic Cathy Kuzel and is aimed at creating meaningful connections and  focuses on “the reciprocal process of exchanging knowledge, experience and expertise”. For more information, you can take a look at the Connected Woman website.

I have also been working with a lot of clients one on one, helping them with building a solid resume and cover letter. If you’ve put this off because of the Olympics or any other reason, you may want to consider refreshing this vital “sales” document. Contact me if you would like help with creating a targeted resume or cover letter. It never hurts to keep this updated, whether you are thinking of changing jobs or not.

You can also check out my latest article, Tips for Better Business Writing, on the Entrepreneurial Woman website. This online magazine is a great resource for any business person.

On a final, personal note, I have been pursuing The Artist’s Way, and am finding the process enjoyable and rewarding. It is going to be a very busy month or two coming up, so I am going to try and stay dedicated to the process.

I leave you with this great quote from Carl Jung:

“The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.”

Geraldine

I’m pleased to have my latest article appear on a great online magazine aimed at female business owners, Entrepreneurial Woman. In the article, I talk about five essential steps to follow to improve your business communication, saving you time and helping you get results. I’ve also included two short examples; one of a weak email, and the other of an improved version of the same  email.

You can read the article that appears in the How To section on the Entrepreneurial Woman website: http://www.entrepreneurialwoman.ca/2010/02/22/how-to-better-business-writing

Happy writing!

Geraldine

Hard to believe how time is marching on. Here in Vancouver we are right in the middle of the Olympics, of course, and so things have all but shut down everywhere as the crowds take to the streets and everywhere it’s red and white!

It’s important to remember, though, that life actually does go on and so you can’t ever really ignore those things on the to-do list. Tax time is coming up, there are articles to be written, I have midterms to set for my Business Communication students, and a lot of other things big and small to accomplish. The gorgeous sunshine we have been having (I hear the warmest winter in 114 years) makes it very hard to sit inside and do all these things as it feels like spring already out there. The cherry trees are blossoming and by tomorrow or the next day, I will have bright new daffodils in the garden. How can I possibly think about taxes at a time like this? It’s all about balance though.

I’ve decided to attempt to do The Artist’s Way course again. About five years ago I started the book, and I have always been a ‘journaler’ and try to take myself off on Artist’s Dates as often as possible, but I really would like to try the various other activities Cameron suggests. I’ll be interested to see how it goes, and perhaps, as an accountability exercise, I will try and blog about my experiences. I also need to remind myself not to beat myself up if I don’t get through things, remembering that balance and the importance of being good to myself.

In other news, will be having an article published on Entreprenurial Woman; a fantastic online magazine aimed at female small business owners. I’ll also be starting on a new writing/SEO project soon, working in conjunction with the fabulous crew from Spectramedia. Its going to be a very busy next few months, but looking forward to it.

Geraldine

I’ve recently been working with some wonderful women on their resumes, helping them update them as they look for a new direction in their career paths. One of the tough things about resumes is that because they are so personal, they can be so hard to write without a helping hand. There are so many things we want to highlight and illustrate; we want to prove we are well-qualified for the job, but it can be so hard to know what to include, and perhaps even more difficult, what to exclude. There are a few things to bear in mind before we get too carried away. Here are some tips to enhance your resume:

Targeted Key Words

It is absolutely vital, for both your resume and your cover letter, that you include key words that are mentioned in the job ad. If you are applying for a job that has not been advertised, then simply find a similar sounding position online and use those key words. Why are these key words so important?

Well, the reason is two-fold.

A) These days, many resumes are put through search engine-like scanners that check to see if you have what the ad asks for. You may have all the essential qualifications they ask for, but if you don’t word them the way the ad specifies, then you run the risk of being passed over.

B) Bear in mind that the person who reads your resume first may not be in the same profession that you are. They may be an HR Manager, who has a general knowledge of what the company is looking for, and has a copy of the same job description listed in the ad, but they don’t necessarily understand what it is that you do. They will scan for easily identifiable, relevant key words. Make their job easier by using similar language and targeted keywords.

Although this may seem like a lot of work, tailor-making each resume (and cover letter for that matter), you will find that similar positions ask for similar things, so all you need to do is just tweak the main draft you have to suit each slightly different position.

Clear, Measurable Duties

When you are listing the duties/explaining what it is you did under your previous positions, it is important to remember a few things. You need to ensure you cover measurable achievements. Don’t just say you increased productivity in your department. Put a percentage to it; show the number of people you managed; put down figures that people can understand and that give tangibility to your experience. Try and think of five key duties or tasks that you performed under each position. If you have held similar positions in different companies, then highlight different aspects of the job (remembering those key words). Use strong verbs and precise, active descriptions. Also remember that your resume is more a fact sheet of your achievements. Try not to be too wordy; rather save the elaborations and “stories” of what you have done for your cover letter.

Focus on the Receiver

Perhaps one of the hardest things to do with a resume or cover letter is to adapt it to the audience. We get so caught up in trying to show what we have done, that we forget to prove how it will benefit the company organisation that is hiring. Try and think of how you can list your experience in a way that shows what it will bring to the position, not what you’ll get out of being hired. Prove to them, through the measurables and the key words, that you have what they are asking for, and that you are eager to bring those skills to work for them. Although this is easier to do in your cover letter, it is still important to bear this in mind in every aspect of your resume, from design to content. Does everything you mention cover not only your “hard” /technical skills, but your “soft” skills too (i.e. communication skills, interpersonal and teamwork abilities, and organisational skills)?

Remember that many people may have the same “hard” skills as you, but you bring your experience and your “soft” skills, and as importantly, your personality to the position. You need to ensure that this is illustrated in your resume and your cover letter.

I know that job hunting can be depressing, challenging and frustrating, but the more you focus on how to prove to a potential employer that you have what he or she is looking for, the greater your chance of success will be. If you would like more tips on resumes, please feel free to read an article I wrote for Suite101.com entitled Writing the Perfect Resume and its companion articles on cover letters and interview skills. Please also feel free to email me to set up a one-on-one resume consultation, if you are in the Vancouver, BC area.

Geraldine

What better way to start the year than by refreshing your resume?or learning how to write a winning cover letter?

I’ll be giving a workshop on resumes and cover letters for the Wired Woman Society this  Tuesday. I’ll be looking at what you can do to ensure your cover letter and accompanying resume get you an interview. Make sure you bring a recent resume to work on during the talk; I will make sure there is plenty of time for questions throughout the talk.

It doesn’t matter if you are a fresh graduate, changing careers, or just making sure you have the skills for when you do decide to look for a job. Hope to see you all on 12th January at the VCC Downtown Campus – Room 419, 250 W. Pender Street, Vancouver. The cost is $20 for members and $25 for non-members. Remember that it is free to become a member of Wired Woman, so sign up and make sure you get your discounted rate. Register online and get more details on the Wired Woman site.

Geraldine

It seems that every time I hit this time of year, I find myself saying, what the heck happened to the last year? the last decade? Time really does fly by and this time of the year is scary, yet exhilarating. It gives us a chance to inhale and reflect on the past year, and also to look forward to what we want to do, change, grow, and reap in the new year. Personally I usually use my birthday for a lot of this “work”, but 2009 has been such a rollercoaster year that I can’t help but be reflective in these last few days of the decade.

One way to prepare for the new year is to update your resume! Yes, a quick plug for a workshop I will be running through the Wired Woman Society on January 12th. You can find more details about this, or register, on the Wired Woman website. It really is a good time, though, to think about where you stand in your career, what you want to do more of/less of and what thing you can change for the better. And if you can be prepared with a fresh new resume, you’re that much more ahead of the game!

Remember to set clear goals this time of year. It is easy to have a long list of ‘resolutions’, but if you don’t affix timelines or deadlines, then it is just that – a list of resolutions that will serve to depress you later in the year when you realise you haven’t checked any of them off. It is important, too, to balance all the aspects of your life – physical (something we worry about a lot after the excesses of the holidays!), mental, emotional and spiritual. No easy task, but infinitely important.

I wish all of you a very happy, smooth transition to 2010. Enjoy yourselves and don’t forget to congratulate yourselves on all the big achievements of the past year. These are far more important than any failures or tasks undone.

Here’s to the beginning of a new decade!

Geraldine

I recently had the pleasure of presenting on Organic SEO and Content Development at an Advanced Wordpress workshop being run by an innovative company, PowerUP Concepts. It was such a pleasure to talk to the dedicated, enthusiastic group! Juliana and Sasa of PowerUP offer a great package (with special rates for Wired Woman Society members too) and it was wonderful to be a part of it.

Something that I stressed to the group, which I don’t think people give much thought to when they are developing their website is the audience! It sounds strange and obvious, but we get so caught up in how we want it to look and what we want to say, that we forget to think of WHO we are trying to target. My suggestion to the group? Sit down for 15 minutes to half an hour and sketch out your ideal reader. Draw a picture of them if you need to! And every time you sit down to write something or design something, keep them in mind. Also ask yourself some of the following questions about that ideal reader:

• What do they need to know?
• What kind of language or design principles speak to them?
• What level of information should you include?
• What would you need to know if you were them?

By conducting an audience analysis like this (and you may need to take it further and do some market research, ask around, look at other similar sites etc), you can ensure that the content and design you offer on your site hits its target every time!

We’re hoping to run more of these combo type workshops in the new year, so watch this space.

Geraldine

PS- you can read Sasa and Juliana’s reflections on the workshop on the PowerUP Concepts website.

The newest addition to the Meerkat Guest Blog Series is from Dr S, author of the Mad Medicine blog. Dr S is a young doctor performing the last few months of three years of compulsory state hospital service in Cape Town, South Africa.  Her stories should inspire fiction, yet all are real experiences from the trauma and casualty units situated in the ganglands of the city she adores.

There are shocking stories told with sarcasm, and sad stories related sentimentally. Some stories are simply hilarious, and some are just really gross.  All of them provide “fly on the wall”-type insight into the ludicrous lives of health care workers, and highlight the plight of the sick and poor accessing state hospitals in South Africa.

“Mad Medicine” indeed.

In this post, Dr S shares her insights into the therapeutic and cathartic role that communication (particularly writing) plays in her every day life. You can read more of Dr S’s thoughts and stories on her blog, Mad Medicine: A Doctor’s Dose of Mayhem.

Dr. Word Nerd

Expression is a form of therapy. Expression is a form of communication, and communicating facilitates understanding. Thus, we express ourselves to attempt self-knoweldge and to allow insight into ourselves by others.

Some dance. Some sing. I like words.I have always been a word nerd. At school, I used to breathe a sigh of relief when the English period rolled around. It was a breath of fresh air in a stuffy timetable, and thus a glorious, stimulating respite from the austeres of Maths and Science. My top seven list of favourite final matric (Grade 12) subjects went like this:

English.

English.

English.

English.

English.

English.

Speech and Drama.

And yet, despite my love of words and all things expressive, I ended up becoming a medical doctor in the field of health sciences. Go figure. And for six years of medical school, the only literature I was exposed to included such stimulating gems as:

• Neurology and Neorology Illustrated.
• Electrocardiograms made Easy
• Chemical Pathology for Clinical Medicine.

All contained particularly important information regarding the diagnosis and treatment of patients.Yet, none provided the same thrills I experienced when studying the literary masters.

After qualifying as a doctor in 2006, I then embarked on three years of compulsory state service in South Africa. These three years have not only served to hone my medical knowlege and clinical skills, but have also taught me that my body can stay awake and function for 30 hours straight.

They have taught me that my emotions can tolerate being on the front lines of our failing war against poverty and disease and unneccesary death. I have learnt to just put my head down and get on with the business of trying to save lives, despite a severe lack of facilities, because trying to highlight the deficiencies and attempting to better the situation only brings one up against the hard wall of bureaucracy and inefficient management. I have learnt to focus on doing the best for the individual patient under my care at that particular time and taking comfort in knowing that I have made a difference in at least one person’s life. There are times, usually during a particularly difficult shift overwhelmed with violent trauma and patients who only present to the hospital at the end stages of their disease processes, when it is easy to sink in to despair.

I used to go home and cry about the shocking stories of stabbed children, abused wives, or horrific malnutrition. The regailing of those stories to my sheltered friends and family was always met with horror and disbelief that this was actually happening in our beautiful city. Being thankfully sheltered far away from the Cape Flats ganglands they simply had no idea. Which is one of the reasons I started my blog. I wanted to inform those more fortunate among us of the plight of our poverty stricken patients. I wanted to expose to those not in the know, exactly what state our government health service is in.

My husband, being an IT genius and the world’s first cyborg, was the one who suggested that I capture my stories through blogging. I have always loved to write, yet was always unsure how to develop this love. In effect, my husband simply provided me with the permission to do it, which is sometimes all one needs to begin a creative process. Like Nike says, sometimes one must “Just do it”.

What blogging has done for me is provide a sort of creative catharsis. Rather than wallow in misery, licking my emotional wounds after a trying shift, I force myself to write about my experiences. And I’ve found that by the time I’ve deposited that final fullstop, my anguish has disappeared.

And in this time of recession, it’s much cheaper than a therapist, no? This expressive process has also effected change in my attitude. Now, whenever something bizarre/terrible/hilarious/ridiculous happens at work, it immediately gets logged as a great story for my blog, rather than a reason to be upset.

This is the phenomenal healing power of expression and communication.

How many times do you hear yourself say “if only I had more time” or “I’ll get to that tomorrow”? It is so hard to juggle many different projects; especially as a business owner with the myriad responsibilities that come with the territory. I find myself struggling to get through tasks some days, and other days I wonder just what the heck I actually did with the whole day! It is a strange balancing act, but sometimes you just have to DO IT!

Instead of saying, “I wish I could…”, sometimes you just have to take action. Don’t put it off. Don’t make excuses. Call the person you have been meaning to call, tackle that pile of papers, start cecking things off your ‘to do’ list. The sense of accomplishment far outweighs any anxiety that you may have about tackling the task in the first place.

I know a lot of the time, this is easier said than done. Mood, energy levels, family commitments etc etc can get in the way, but I have come to realise that they only come in the way if you let them. You are the only one who can take charge of your life and decide how you want to respond. You often can’t control what happens, but you can control how you react. Why wait until it is too late?

SO my challenge to you is to do one thing, just one thing RIGHT NOW that you have been putting off. For me, it’s doing some book keeping and marking midterms, so my promise is to do those today. What will you do?

I leave you with a fantastic quote from Psychoanalyst Carl Jung: “Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”

Geraldine

Our latest guest blog entry is reproduced with permission from Mhairi Petrovic of Meerkat Communications partner Out-Smarts Marketing, and deals with the latest marketing craze, social media.

Mhairi (pronounced va-ri)  is the Chief Marketing Officer and Founder of Out-Smarts and is dedicated to working with clients to develop and implement marketing strategies that maximise on-line exposure. Since graduating with Honours in Commerce in 1990 from Napier University in Scotland, Mhairi has developed an in depth knowledge of sales and marketing functions through her employment on both sides of the Atlantic with some of the best known companies in the world including Coca Cola, Unisys and MicroStrategy.

For more of Mhairi’s posts,  check out the Out-Smarts website and blog.

Don’t Put All Your Marketing Eggs in One Basket

Business circles are a buzz about social media right now, not surprisingly since these tools are much more cost effective than traditional marketing functions and in many ways more targeted.

However, it is important to remember that social media is simply a component of an effective marketing strategy.  It should not be your only one because not everyone is active in these online forums even if they have a presence.

The best marketing campaigns are still the ones that build on the basic marketing foundations of product, price, promotion and place.  Once you know these basic components your message should be the same across each delivery point.

Great marketing efforts leverage different channels to build interaction with clients and prospects across various touch points.  Incidentally, interactive marketing, according to Forrester, is expected to reach nearly $25.6 billion in 2009.

Campaigns that promote interaction across both traditional and online marketing are sometimes called hybrid campaigns.  By reaching out to people in different ways, your company builds stronger brand awareness.  By interacting or encouraging interaction in all forums, you enhance loyalty.  Witness IBM whose campaigns typically combine traditional and online marketing.

To encourage interaction you should:  interact and contribute, build your community strategically, be geniune and timely and look for opportunities to add value.

When it comes to marketing and social media in particular, you should never put all you eggs in the one basket.