?? Why You Want to Target Companies Early

?? Why You Want to Target Companies Early 469 The fewer jobs you apply for, the better your job search. Photo by JD Hancock Apply to as many employers as possible â€" wrong The classic way of looking at job search is to say that it’s a “numbers game”, where if you send your resume to enough companies, you’ll eventually find an employer who will hire you. Also called “resume blasting” because you’re shooting your resume at so many people, or “the shotgun approach,” because you’re scattering resumes in many directions like shotgun pellets, this strategy does work, otherwise it would never have become classic. But it’s horribly inefficient and for most job seekers, it can be brutal. Maybe it should be called “the shotgun approach” because of the pain it causes. Going down this route usually leads to dozens â€" even hundreds â€" of your resumes not being responded to, with morale and hope fading over time on one hand, while other pressures (financial, family, etc.) continue to grow on the other, to the point where you have to accept the first offer you get.eval There is a much better way. How many employers did you apply to before finding your last/current job? 1-10 10-25 25-100 Over 100 I didn't keep track View Results Apply to as few employers as possible â€" right Here’s why you should focus on trying to apply to as few companies as possible:eval Smart job seekers need to research companies to prepare for job interviews. Since this research will be necessary, you can save time and get a better return by doing it earlier in your job search. By doing it earlier in your job search, you’ll discover companies that you actually want to work for. By focusing on companies you actually want to work for, it will be easier to motivate yourself to target them. By focusing on companies you actually want to work for, it will be easier to motivate yourselfClick To Tweet By targeting companies aggressively â€" since you so want to work for them â€" you will learn what exactly is needed to get hired (such as by asking ex-employees on LinkedIn). If you know what exactly is needed to get hired, you can follow that blueprint yourself, simplifying your job search. Having a successful blueprint to follow will boost your confidence in the process and in yourself. Having more self-confidence will impress contacts and interviewers, and it will shine through as you respond well to questions, being well-prepared as you are since you did your research early on. Showing how well you were able to know their company from the outside, interviewers are more likely to think that you’ll fit in well on the inside. And all these things â€" your decision making, research, self-confidence, targeted motivation and ability to follow the success of others â€" will make them want you on the inside, resulting in a job offer. Wash, rinse and repeat to get more offers. With multiple offers, you can comfortably negotiate from a position of power and make the best choice out of many good choices. In short: Grow your network as wide as you can, but when it comes to reaching out to employers, shoot as narrowly as possible. By following the classic wide or “shotgun” approach, you will send out many resumes but ultimately take the first offer for a job you might not want. By following the narrow or targeted approach, you will send out much fewer resumes and ultimately receive multiple great offers, taking the best offer for a job you want, at a company you want. Bonus Steve Dalton, author of The 2 Hour Job Search, explains how to find 40 companies to work for in 40 minutes, and more. The audio-only interview focuses on MBAs but almost all the advice is relevant to other job seekers too. More reading Target the Company and Quit Chasing the Job How to Build a List of Target Companies How To Find Target Companies For Your Job Search Question of the article Which approach has worked best for you so far? Tell us in the comments. READ NEXT: 3 Things You Must Do on Your Job Search

Writing Resume Examples

Writing Resume ExamplesThere are many resume writing examples available for all to see these days and if you want to get ahead of the game, it is important that you use these examples as a guide when you are creating your own resume. When used properly, a resume example can give you a great feel for what to expect when applying for the position that you want.Many people find that the most effective resume examples they have are those that they see written by others. If you have ever studied for a test or taken a class with a professor, chances are you saw what they were looking for and how they went about writing a paper. In other words, you are looking for something similar to what they are offering.By taking the time to look at a resume example and then trying to replicate what they are offering, you will find that you are better prepared for the job interview that you want. You will also be able to see where the flaws are that you may find in your own resume. Some examples are eve n created specifically for each individual industry, so you may want to take a look at that as well.You should also think about how much practice you will need to do before using any of the resume examples that you find. The resume examples that you have looked at may be fresh for you, but you may be like someone else who has been applying for jobs for quite some time. Therefore, it is important that you continue to look for things that may need to be modified and/or updated. If you work on them enough, you will be better prepared to present a professional looking resume when you finally make an application.Another thing to consider is that some resume examples are meant to be used on their own and not as a part of a larger resume that is being designed. You may find that it is better to create a resume that is specific to the kind of work that you have for the employer, or the type of job that you want. By doing this, you will find that you will be better prepared to fill out the j ob application that you send in.When you want to use resume examples, you should be aware that there are different types of samples that are available. These include: professionally written and worded for the job that you are applying for; sample resumes for specific businesses; sample resumes for specific industries; and sample resumes with information that will be useful to employers in general. In addition, some examples are intended to be used in combination with other sources of information and research, which means that you should make sure that you know how to go about using it and what it should contain before you submit it.When you are reviewing resume writing examples, you should make sure that you read through them carefully and know exactly what the purpose is for you to find a resume that you will use. Knowing exactly what you are looking for in a resume will help you not only in finding the perfect example, but also will make sure that it is a resume that will be reall y appropriate for the kind of position that you are applying for.By taking some time to read through the samples and learn more about what they are offering, you will find that the information that you need is right there for you to learn. Many times, the first step in finding a resume example is just making a decision about what you need and how you will be able to meet it.

When Confidence Becomes a Career Liability - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

When Confidence Becomes a Career Liability - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career The drive to be perceived as strong is becoming ever more prevalent in today’s society and is especially present in some members of our younger generation. In theory, confidence has its merits and is a necessary quality for successful leadership. It can provide people with the resiliency needed to complete complex tasks even in the face of consistent obstacles and resistance. In one’s career, the more someone asks of themselves, the harder they work and the more they deliver. Confidence enhances focus and allows someone to more seamlessly navigate a difficult career. On the other hand, over confidence can erode job prospects and relationships. Self-assurance, when combined with negative traits (i.e. lack of critical thinking skills, ethics, intelligence, warmth for others) becomes a breeding ground for poor decisions. Unfortunately, a string of bad decisions can lead to resentment which hurts relationships which then leads to low self-esteem which leads to quitting. Because it’s imperative to determine whether your confidence is healthy and helpful or potentially destructive, it’s important to further analyze the topic. Distinguishing Self Confidence From Over Arrogance If you can pinpoint the drivers behind one’s behavior, you can more often than not effectively determine the difference between healthy self-assurance or destructive arrogance. The driver behind confident behavior will frequently clue us in as to whether we or those around us are engaging in healthy self-assurance or destructive arrogance. In most instances, healthy confidence is used to create while arrogance is an avoidance tactic. Confident people leverage inner strength to propel their abilities and enable them to be happy in the moment. Arrogant people behave with hubris to avoid unpleasant circumstances. Consider the following 3 common situations (all of which breed destructive confidence): 1. When a person uses arrogance as a coping mechanism to deal with insecurity or fear of rejection, they get into real trouble. For some individuals, being treated and judged poorly by others becomes painful and, often they find that being rude and arrogant prevents this from happening. On the surface, it seems to work. Little do they know, they are avoided by successful, happy individuals and end up being surrounded by and admired by insecure, ineffective individuals. 2. A second red light is when someone (either knowingly or unknowingly) uses arrogance as a coping mechanism to mitigate anxiety. Sometimes, the human brain has trouble coming to terms with the fact that it has shortcomings; people will convince themselves they are correct based on pride rather than factual evidence. 3. When people possess misguided goals and lack values of true substance, they often suffer from arrogance. For instance, when a person’s confidence is drawn from how much money they have as opposed to having core values of substance, they become arrogant and isolate themselves from healthy relationships. Then, if they lose that money, they are frequently unable to emotionally cope with the loss and it sends them the complete opposite way. Using Strength to Judge Other’s Capabilities and the Validity of Information Have the ever heard the term the blind leading the blind? Ironically, when the wrong people become confident for the wrong reasons, a scary combination of four things happen: 1. That individual sounds more persuasive. 2. Their newfound confidence makes them more likely to give advice. 3. Their arrogance deteriorates the quality of their advice. 4. As the advice becomes worse, it is more widely accepted. Eventually, the arrogant get discredited. Though, until that happens they become a liability to those who mistake arrogance for effectiveness and success. Our recruiters often find that the worst managers tend to sound the most arrogant on the surface, have the rudest personalities and are by far the most willing to make grandiose claims (and drop names) to impress young job seekers. If the applicants don’t fact check and utilize their God-given logic, they often find themselves working for a poor company with less than desirable management. In the End In almost all instances, arrogant people pay grave consequences for their actions. Whether it be that they pay with their overall happiness, ability to enjoy positive relationships or earning potential, they end up forfeiting more than they know.

How To Decorate Your Office For Holidays

How To Decorate Your Office For Holidays In honor of St Patricks Day, here is a post about how to decorate your office for the holidays written by Kristen. Kristen works as a freelance writer for Backyard Ocean, an online store for  above ground swimming pools. A work-at-home mom, the “office” is one of her most favorite spots in the house. As the place where you spend about half of your day (and sometimes night), a home office should exude a comfortable and fresh feeling. Jazzing up your workspace can make your day more cheerful and less stressful, even if you stay glued to the computer or hunched over notes for hours on end. A great way to bring life to your office is by redecorating it every so often, keeping in tandem with the holidays. As long as you avoid decorations that create too much clutter and choose specific spots to redecorate, your work hours can change with the spirit of the season and still be relaxing. Here are some tips on how to decorate your office for the holidays using minimal decor: Go Green on St. Patricks Let your home office go green to welcome St. Patricks Day. Shamrock clovers are the symbol of this holiday, and potting them is a wonderful way to start. Take two to three pots of a shamrock plant, cover them with light orange felt paper (or tie a shimmery orange ribbon around them), then line them up on a windowsill or on top of a shelf. Make your wall brighter by putting up a string of green lights. Place two small gold containers wrapped in multi-colored ribbons on both ends of a table to resemble pots at the ends of rainbows. You can use the pots for keeping paper clips and other office supplies or even place goodies like candy or biscuits in them. Vibrant Easter When Easter season rolls in, it’s time to add more color to your office! An Easter wreath on the door or window instantly perks up a room. No need to remove those green lights since green also signifies new life. Just replace the gold pots on your table with a pretty ceramic bunny and basket containers tied with satin bows; replace the candy with chocolate Easter eggs. On the window sill and shelves, place indoor plants like violets or plants with yellow flowers. Reds and Blues in July Flaunt your patriotism on Independence Day with red, white, and blue. Time to change the lights on the wall to red or blue! On the window sill or shelves, place glass vases adorned with mini-flags, and twin red and blue balloons. A table cloth in the American Flag’s colors can act as a centerpiece. For more effect, bring out a historical book or two and place them on your desk for something to browse during breaks. Autumn Halloween Halloween also ushers in autumn, so put away the reds and blues and replace with autumn colors like orange. A small pumpkin lantern, mini-candles, and a tablecloth patterned with leaves are perfect for your desk. Shift to a gold string of lights and replace the red and blue contents of the vases with twigs and glittered up, dried leaves. Make your office fit for trick-or-treating by adding spider webs in the corners and on the twigs! [Related Post:  5 Ways to Design Your Home Office with Productivity in Mind] Thanksgiving You’re in luck if you’re happy with the autumn theme: Thanksgiving keeps to those colors. Keep the gold lights and the tablecloth for this season but replace the pumpkin with faux flowers in small vases. Add garlands and wreaths of red berries and orange ribbons to the windows and door. Red and Gold Holidays And now, the holidays we all wait for! Get a tabletop Christmas tree for your desk and decorate with light strings and ornaments; not just your tree though, everything you want. Christmas stockings could substitute for pen holders and office tools. Put some of the larger things under the tree to mimic gifts. If the lamp shades were changed to something with a hearth-like diffusion, they would be like mini-fireplaces. Looking for more office decoration ideas? Check out our Office/Workspace Pinterest board! Keep Your Office Decorations Simple! Youll notice these suggestions for how to decorate your office for the holidays don’t include major decoration changes like curtains and seat covers. These office decoration tips keep it simple and dont change your general decorating scheme! How do you decorate your office for the holidays?

Google Resume Writing Tips

Google Resume Writing TipsGoogle resume writing tips should provide some basic guidelines for online resumes. The most important point to note is that the resume does not have to be similar to any of the original resumes out there. It is simply a compilation of personal information along with professional credentials.Even if you are the best professional resume writer in the business, there will be others who have done a better job. Therefore, you can not expect to get all the credit for your own great work. Those with resume writing tips that are unique to their particular domain are more likely to get the job done quickly and effectively. They are also more likely to receive better applications from the same pool of people.Once you have created a professional resume that contains professional credentials and looks like a professional resume, you are going to want to wait a little while before putting it out there. Your resume should be an expert opinion of yourself. If you try to g ive your very best work in a hurry, it will come across as rushed.You should write a professional resume that will only take you two or three weeks to finish. One of the many reasons that Google resume writing tips exist is to help people get the right job. A professional resume does not have to be perfect. However, it does need to be effective.One of the basic things that you will want to do as you create a professional resume is to understand how the search engines like to work. In order to make the most out of your time on the Internet, you will want to create a resume that is focused and professional. This will help to land you more jobs quickly and efficiently.There are a lot of different tools that you can use as you go through the process of creating an online resume. You can find several other Google resume writing tips. What you want to do is make sure that you are using these techniques and are getting a good grasp on how they can benefit you.If you are not good at writing resumes, you can always hire somebody to do it for you. You may even be able to do this at a professional rate. These tips are just there to help you, so you should take advantage of them as much as possible.Each individual has his or her own qualifications and skills, so the key to getting a particular resume written is to focus on making it good. Get that resume to the point where it looks like a professional job well done. If you have questions about the importance of Google resume writing tips, you can get answers from both experts and just plain common sense.

3 Things Law School Doesnt Tell You about Being a Personal Injury Lawyer - CareerMetis.com

3 Things Law School Doesn't Tell You about Being a Personal Injury Lawyer If you’re in law school wondering what to do with your career, you might consider being a personal injury lawyer. It can be a very rewarding area of law to practice, but there are some drawbacks.For example, the hours can be long and hectic, with a lot of clients and cases to juggle and tight deadlines to meet â€" those are the basics your law professors would probably tell you.evalBut while your professors will help prepare you for working as a real life lawyer, there are some things you won’t find out until you get into the workforce and experience them yourself.1. How Much Planning it Takes to Develop a PracticeYou might consider being a personal injury lawyer itself to be a focused area of law, but that barely scratches the surface. There is an almost absurd degree of concentration within specific areas of personal injury law that you can build a career on.There are always a lot of cases involving the injured because there are many, many ways to get injured.Take motor vehicle accidents as an example. According to an international study done by the Association for Safe International Road Travel, over 3 million people in America are injured as a result of a car accident a year and more than 37,000 are killed.Car accidents are a major area of practice within that area of personal injury law, there are specific types of accidents:Accidents involving two or more motor vehiclesAccidents involving motor vehicles and pedestrians It’s is a good idea to start thinking about this because is there is a lot of competition. Even though there are always a lot of cases, there are also a lot of lawyers.One way to get ahead of the competition to get hired at a firm or get jobs for your own business is to become an expert in a narrow area of injury law. You might start out more general as a new hire on a firm, and narrow your focus of legal practice as you get more experience.2. How Different Technology Is in Real LifeTechnology in today’s world is constantly changing and advances in ways that few can foresee. As a result, what they teach in school does not always keep pace with the most recent practices in the workforce, and this is especially true with technology.Where in school your professors might teach you about spending hours looking for and through case files for information, in modern law firms, the story is a lot different.evalComputers, software, and technologically savvy office managers have made it much quicker and easier to access the firm’s database wherever you go. So while you might work long hours, now you can do some work from home on your phone or laptop where you access any document or case file you need. It helps lawyers have more of a work-life balance to spend time with their families.New technology is also rapidly changing the nature of personal injury cases. For example, dashboard cameras have become a bit of a game changing device to provide hard evidence of what really happened in car accidents.Smartphones have give n everyone a camera for pictures and video to gather evidence at the scene, and phone tracking helps prove someone was or was not at the site of the incident. There is also wearable technology such as FitBits that can measure how a person’s activity is impacted as a result of an injury.Looking ahead to the future, consider how driverless cars will change the landscape of car accident litigation and insurance. Artificial intelligence is already being used by some of the biggest insurance companies to process claims in mere seconds, which will also change how personal injury lawyers interact with them on behalf of their clients.These sorts of issues cannot possibly be taught in school â€" they’re still too new, or don’t even exist yet, for people to know what to teach about them. They are things you will learn on the job how to handle.3. What It’s Like Dealing with the Best and Worst of PeopleOne thing that your professors will never be able to really prepare you for is what i t is actually like to deal with people during a personal injury case: your clients, insurance companies, and the people responsible for the injuries.You will find that you experience the full spectrum of humanityâ€"from the absolute best, noble, and heroic men and women to the absolute worst, vile, and corrupt people and organizations.Your clients will come to you likely at one of the worst points in their lives, after suffering serious and life altering injuries, or with the family of a loved one that died. Then you’ll have to deal with the people or organizations that were at least partially responsible for it, and with the insurance companies both of your client and of the other party.You’ll meet plenty of desperate people you want to help who are outside of the statutes of limitations, or who are too depressed or non committal to take a winning case to the end. As a result, you will inevitably have some emotionally draining cases that break your heart.evalHowever, you will a lso get the sense of fulfillment when you help the good and the needy overcome their nightmare and move on with their lives. Furthermore, not every case or defendant you deal with will be terrible people.The majority of your cases, everyone involved will just be regular human beings that have their bad moments and their good moments and the rest of the time are normal.

Be the Candidate Who Stands Out from the Crowd - CareerAlley

Be the Candidate Who Stands Out from the Crowd - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Stand Out from the Crowd If youve made it to the interview stage first of all well done! You now have an excellent opportunity to impress the hiring manager and convince him or her that you are the perfect candidate for the job. Unless youre applying for a position with few applicants, thats probably going to be tricky. When there are so many candidates applying for the same role, bagging that dream career can be much more difficult quite simply because it can be hard for you to stand out from the crowd and get noticed ahead of the other candidates. The good news is that there are numerous things you can do to nudge things in your favor and ensure that your name is on the lips of every hiring manager you encounter Re-read the job description. You may want to print it out and begin underlining specific skills the employer is looking for. Think about examples from your past and current work that align with these requirements. Prepare to be asked about times in the past when you used a specific skill and use the STAR method to tell stories with a clear Situation, Task, Action and Result. Indeed.com Show You Have Drive This is a tough one because a chance doesnt always present itself, but if you can show drive during your interview, then you are far more likely to impress the interviewer. For example, should you be applying for an IT position and should one of the computers happen to get a little screwy while youre at the interview, instead of sitting back and letting things happen, get up and solve that problem theres no way you wont impress if you do that. Source Live Up to Your Resume You might know how to write a cover letter and resume so that you get the interview, but do you know how to show the hiring manager that everything you said was true and more? If not then you need to think of ways that you can prove your knowledge and experience. The above idea is a good way of doing that, but using the right language, being positive and even the body language you use will also be helpful TopResume Free Resume Review Price: TopResume writes and analyzes more resumes and LinkedIn profiles than any other service in the world. Let our resume experts provide you with objective feedback and personalized recommendations to improve your resume and land the right job sooner. Get a free, confidential resume review from TopResume Get Your Killer Resume We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you. You should have a good understanding of the companys products and markets and how the role fits into the overall organization. While youre at it, try to find out as much as possible about your interviewers by looking them up on LinkedIn. Tweet This Ask Questions Instead of simply turning up at the interview on the day and doing your best to answer the hiring managers questions, show that you are a diligent person by getting in touch with the hiring manager and any other people in the company who you feel appropriate, to ask questions about the job before the interview date and after it. This will show that you are truly interested and engaged in the process and you will, of course, be much more memorable due to the extra communication between you and the people who do the hiring. source Thank You Notes Thank you notes (or emails) sent to the hiring manager after the interview are always appreciated and they help to show that you are really interested in the role, as well of course, as proving that you are a kind and thoughtful person yes being kind really can be of benefit in business; its not all dog eat dog! Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash Tell the Truth If youve been fired from your last role, instead of trying to hide it, get it out there and show them how honest you are. In a situation where most people are desperately trying to hide their skeletons and build themselves up, it will be very refreshing and you wont be forgotten. Obviously, try to put as positive a spin on it as possible, but be honest and direct. ResumeGenius Price: Get a Resume in 15 Minutes. Simple To Use, No Registration or CC Required. Phone Support. Free Resume Examples. Career Specific Examples. Professional Review. Live Chat. Easy to Use. Guided Walkthrough. Create a Resume in Mins. Build My Resume Now We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you. What's next? Ready to take action? Choose the right tools to help you build your career. Looking for related topics? Find out how to nail the interview and get hired. Subscribe and make meaningful progress on your career. It’s about time you focused on your career. Get Educated Contact Us Advertise Copyright 2020 CareerAlley. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy + Disclosure home popular resources subscribe search

How One Person Can Change Your Biz Landscape

My 2011 By the Numbers (kinda-sorta)/ Why You Dont Need an Advertising Budget to Get Referrals / How One Person Can Change Your Biz Landscape Last year, I gave you this. This year, I give you this: I hesitated putting this out there (hence the January 12th post), but something pulled me towards it. There was so much of it that was eye-opening for me, and when somethings eye-opening for me, then I automatically think of you kids. While I was uncomfortable posting it with the numbers exposed, it feels good to have em blurred but still show you (a) how my revenue streams play out and (b) how much of my money comes from personalized coaching! When I saw that about $10K of my entire salary was from non-coaching streams.I mightve hyperventilated a bit. I already knew I was cutting my client sessions from a 30-40/mo to 10-ish a month (as it stands, Ill be doing 10-20/mo til May at the earliest), and my brain started reeling. How can I cut my coaching by more than half and still meet my financial goals for 2012 (yes, I have a number in mind thats about 35% higher than what I made in 2011)?! Thankfully, the newfound hippy-dippy in me starting breathing regularly again when I placed trus t in raising my rates and prepping for my Clubhouse (opening on Tue the 17th!). I started thinking about the time Id have to write blog posts, workbooks, book proposals, books and do virtual workshops and, well, anything I fancy with the extra whitespace I have by not coaching 30-ish hours a week. The opportunity I have to bump up the money I make from my extras (as I sometimes see em) is pretty infinite, and Im actually really excited to take on that challenge and see what happens (while still taking Care). Last April I signed up for Freckle. Even though I dont bill my clients hourly, I took them up on a free 30-day trial to see where my time was going. Of course, it totally hooked me, and Ive been using Freckle incessantly ever since. When the end of the year hit, I ran a report for the entire year, around both my projects and my tags. As you can see, the projects (above) are broader (although I have em by private client, I placed em all together for these purposes) while the tags themselves are more specific. At least I can see that Im spending more time consistently servicing my biggest moneymaker: my coaching clients! I spent about 611 hours on their work the sessions themselves, set-up and follow-up but then it was interesting to see that social media is my #2 time-taker. Blogging, tweeting, newslettering and Facebooking took 144-ish hours, and I get paid nada con nada for that! Yes, I know its where/how I find a lot of clients, but.it seems excessive/unsmart in some way. Its som ething I dont wanna ramp down this year, but something I wanna do smarter. I made this brand-new last month, going over all my numbers from 2010 and makin a handy-dandy at-a-glance chart to see what I could, um, see. And as you can probably, uh, see August is consistently my killer month! It also made me realize that, even though I can see how much money is coming in each month and I categorize it out, I dont track my purchases month-by-month.so Im not sure what I do in August that I dont do otherwise! I do know that its usually the start of my fall Operations!but other than that, Im not sure what Im selling more of or what magic fairy visits my PayPal account each August. While I take a Business Building Day each month to count my moolah and figure out client averages and demographics and whatnot, I just added a whole slew of stuff to my Magic Formula Google Doc (which is where the Magic lives) to include stuff like how many  Operations! applications came in that month and how many Running Over Resolution Roadblocks sold and how many people switched from Team Coolness to Team Badass (whichll make sense on Tuesday when you get to know aaaaaaaaall about the amazeballsness of my Clubhouse!). While it looks real laborious at first site, I know my main platforms (Batchbook, Outright and PayPal) will make running reports and gettin info easy-breezy. And see those extra lines up there at the top? Im reachin, baby, Im reachin! Aaaaaaaaand heres where my where-my-clients-and-consultation-call-people-come-from stands! I was actually super surprised to see that my PR efforts namely being a guest (on blogs, telesummits, e-courses, etc) and giving interviews has gone the farthest (big fat note for those who think they cant launch a biz without shelling out the big bucks: all those PR opps I got myself and didnt pay a cent for). I love seeing that my personal connections are a close second, namely friends, colleagues, and other people who tell people bout me via word-of-mouth. The Blog category that came in third was for those that said they read about me on someones blog, and that could probably be under the same category as Social Media, but I separated it out (Social Media being Twitter and Facebook for me). Again, free referrals! I wanna disclose that if ya look at my referrals by the specific as in NameOfPersonHere or NameOfWebsiteHere I got the most from general web searches (which floors me), followed by Etsy, and then ready for this? Alexandra Franzen. Seriously, work with one big-time rock-star who people love and respect, and youll be set for life. (THANK YOU ALEXANDRA!) What did ya learn from my numbers/lessons? What are you gonna do differently with your biz now? Let me know what youre taking away and what youre taking action on in the comments below! Hey, Ive spent 4 hours on this post because I had to run lots of the numbers and kept getting more and more ideas for my monthly Business Building Day and I hope its done the same for you!