Equipping You With a Marketing Website

We will be creating and hosting your personal marketing website. We do this because our experience has proven that if you have a superior resume and marketing website, job hunting can be much easier.

Job hunting is all about getting enough of the “right people” to look at your credentials. A “Personal Marketing Website” is a website that presents your universal resume... and sometimes your biography... for those who wish to review it.

Here’s how this works at our firm. When we write resumes, we create a distinctive and professional “Personal Marketing Website.” Displaying one on the web in color... is an impressive way of presenting yourself. It gives you a fast, no-cost way to get your presentation in front of the right decision makers.

How? Because you can simply send out emails with a link to your “Personal Marketing Website.” Through our job hunting information system, all you need to do is get the names of decision makers... and emails of key employers... throughout the U.S.... or the world... in industries that are right for you... or in the area where you want to live.

Can this make networking easier? Yes. For people you already know... all you do is send an email to let them know that you are open to new opportunities... and that you put up a new and unique “personal marketing website.” And, when people see your presentation, they will be far more impressed than anything you could say over the phone.

With access to our Job Market Access Center (JMAC), you can even comfortably network people you don’t know. For example, you can quickly get the names of alumni from your school who hold influential jobs... or others who worked with you some years ago... or executives in an industry or metro area... whose advice and referrals you’d appreciate.

Can this website also be used for responding to ads? Absolutely. Mention your link in a compelling email and you’ll have a surefire way to dramatically stand out from everyone else who answers an ad. The bottom line is that if you’re in the market today... and don’t have a “Personal Marketing Website”... you will be searching with an unnecessary competitive disadvantage.

For more information be sure to check out SET Personal Marketing's Twitter, follow SET Personal Marketing's Facebook, watch SET Personal Marketing's videos on YouTube or visit SET Personal Marketing's website.

Equipping You With Superior Resumes and Letters Pt. 3

Optional resumes we can create

An “interview” resume. An interview resume is 2 to 3 pages. It is for presentation during or after interviews and reveals more about you when employers want to know more. If you used this too early... to develop interviews, it might not work well since it would reveal many more details about your industry background. (If you have an executive biography, you would not need this resume.)

An executive biography. This is a 3 to 5 page narrative document, written in a third-person style. It uses interesting stories, rich in detail, and is favored by top recruiters and senior executives. Today, these are the “Mercedes of presentations.” Those seeking $150,000 to 1 million dollars+ should have one. Decision makers often forward resumes to others to get consensus. And sometimes, you never meet the top people, but nevertheless they will often review your resume. The offer depends on a “thumbs up” from the resume presentation.

Executive biographies are also invaluable during negotiations. They convey the best possible solutions you can bring... creating a unique “sense-of-worth.” They are also ideal for high-level networking...because it is such a distinguished and high-level presentation.

The marketing letters we create for you

Certain people who must avoid revealing liabilities should use personalized letters, but they need to be focused and motivating. Custom benefit letters, tailored to the needs of organizations, can be highly effective. We typically create the following 12 letters for different occasions:

• For responding to openings

• For contacting recruiters

• For contacting venture capitalists

• For responding to emerging jobs

• For direct contact with employers

• For third-party letters to employers

• For contacting directors of associations

• For networking associates and friends

• For networking alumni

• For networking influential people

• For setting up potential references

• For following up your interviews

For more information be sure to check out SET Personal Marketing's Twitter, follow SET Personal Marketing's Facebook, watch SET Personal Marketing's videos on YouTube or visit SET Personal Marketing's website.

Freemium : $$$ v/s Time

Last week Flurry released an interesting chart on the Freemium games .


As evident, the data suggests that max amount of money (49%) is spent by users in the 25-34 age group. They play only for 29% of the relative time. One possible reason is that this demographic prefers to buy upgrades and special powers to help them cross levels faster. In the same light, the 18-24 years age group spends the max amount of time (32%) but only 16% of the relative revenue comes from them. This is even lower than than the 28% revenue coming from the 35-54 year age group which spends only 14% of the relative time.

While 13-24 year olds constitute more than 50% of the time spent, they contribute only 21% to the revenue. This is an interesting observations for gaming companies. It helps them understand that they can make more money by catering to the in-app purchases of this higher age group (24-54 years).

Flurry had earlier published that consumers spend an average of $14 per transaction when making in-app purchases in freemium games. What items does this money go to? Another interesting chart shows the spending on durable v/s consumable good.


Durable goods are those which can be use to provide permanent benefit in the game play and consumable provide only one time benefit. Personalized are those which are only for a purely decorative purpose. Consumable goods constitute more than 50% of all in-app purchased in freemium games. A majority of this is a towards game currency which can be used in multiple ways within the game.

The data cannot be generalized completely and should be taken with a pinch of salt. Depending on the actual game needs the attractiveness of the durable and goods will change.

The two sets of analysis above are important when trying to decide what in-app purchases to offer and what age groups to cater to. With 65% of all revenue generated among the top 100 games now coming from freemium games these numbers become even more important to understand.

Equipping You With Superior Resumes and Letters Pt. 2

The resume styles we will create for you

A universal resume. The most essential is a universal resume—a one-page document that will be your introductory resume. Most people mistakenly believe that they need to tell their whole story in their initial resume. The reality is that you get better results when your initial resume is interesting, with a feeling of action—but short. This resume must be suitable for key word scanning, have short paragraphs, and be compelling. It must be headlined by a job title listing (e.g., Director of Marketing) that an employer might have available. Remember, your resume is an ad... not an epitaph.

An “Internet (or electronic)” resume. This second resume needs to be a narrative... usually no more than two-thirds of one page. It is surprising how few devote any thought to the way their resumes appear at the receiving end of an email transmission. When you are online, less is more. All you want is a positive response.

A “quick-response” resume. This third resume makes it easy for you to respond quickly to emerging situations you read about. It positions the text on the right-hand side of the page so you can write handwritten notes and dispatch a resume without a cover letter. Clients consistently tell us that executives respond well to their notes, which cited events that were signals of emerging jobs.

For more information be sure to check out SET Personal Marketing's Twitter, follow SET Personal Marketing's Facebook, watch SET Personal Marketing's videos on YouTube or visit SET Personal Marketing's website.

HTML5 v/s Native Apps

With more and more companies putting in thousands and thousands of $$$ on their mobile initiatives, the big question about the mobile road map is : HTML5 or Native Mobile apps?

In one of my earlier posts, I discussed some factors which will help a company decide whether to opt for a Mobile website or a Native app. The current question becomes more interesting because of the present state and buzz about HTML5.

What is HTML5?

HTML5 is the fifth version of the HTML language that provides the basic building blocks of web pages. It will support multimedia without plugins and has the ability to work on all computers and devices.



Advantages of HTML5

• Portability: HTML5 web apps can be accessed and used on any device via a web browser, much like a mobile website
• Cost effective: They can turn out to be significantly cheaper that developing native apps for various devices
• Offline access: Web apps also provide the capability for offline access and usage via application cache, meaning you don’t have to have a network connection to use them.
• HTML5 introduces new APIs to access mobile device functionality, in particular sensors such as accelerometer and GPS
  

Few HTML5 Limitations

• Security issues: Users could tamper with processing scripts, which might allow unauthorized access. Hackers can get access to perks, discounts, etc. for which they really aren’t eligible.
• Synchronization challenges: While the app is connected, it can save data to the cloud however if it goes offline, changes will not get saved. Synchronization can become a challenge when people access from different devices.
• User Experience: Mobile apps are a lot about the user experience. Its really crucial how well you can engage your user with such a small screen. Native apps till date offer a better user experience, ease of use and convenience.
• Standard Gestures: Some standard actions specific to a device will not be supported by HTML5. For eg: iPhone has the standard 'long hold' which is used for many actions. The HTML5 look and feel will be like the web feel.
  
• Marketing effort: This is specially crucial for smaller companies who attract many of their users from the various app stores.
• Monetization: The fact that apps like Angry Birds have made millions of $ is possible only because of an app store which lets people discover them and developer monetize them. This is not so easy on HTML5.

HTML5 believers say it could destroy the native app by 2014. However, there is a lot of work to be done on the HTML5 front to remove the 'clunky' behavior of the technology.

Some quick tips to help you decide:

• If your app is very complex and highly interactive, use native
• If you are targeting multiple platforms and your offering/ value is web-centric, use HTML5
• A native app can also have web view, so consider a 'hybrid app', if required
• Consider one or both options based on the company and user requirements and your budget and target.
  

Only time will say which will rule after the next few years. For now, the native app market is here to stay and flourish.

Equipping You With Superior Resumes and Letters Pt. 1

To appreciate the importance of superior resumes, let’s first talk a little bit about the competition, and why it has devastated so many talented people. And keep in mind that when you look for a new job, you are reduced to how you look on paper.

Today, the number of resumes in circulation exceeds the imagination. GE receives 800,000 resumes a year... but they only hire about 4,000 people. That’s 1 out of every 200. Other well-known firms say they get over 1,000 resumes for every opening. And, when it comes to submitting your resume to an attractive ad... you should know that employers are now getting hundreds of candidates. Leading recruiters, like Korn Ferry and Heidrick and Struggles, now claim to receive more than 1,500 resumes a work day... 30,000 each month.

Despite the enormous competition, many people create a resume, show it to some friends or family members and then assume it’s fine. Ann Landers is famous for many quotes, but one applies here. “Don’t accept your dog’s admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful.”

While many professionals still use traditional resumes, with this amount of competition, the fact is they don’t work very well anymore. The reason is that most of these resumes have common weaknesses that can restrict job hunting success.

Image. Your resume must start by projecting an outstanding image... one that sets you apart. It must be eye-catching... not ordinary, plain vanilla and flat.

Liabilities. Even top executives can find themselves continually derailed... because of the negative information they made available... without realizing it.

Transferable skills. Does it just sell your history and experience? Selling skills is an absolute necessity if you want to expand your market... change industries... join a growth firm... appeal to venture capitalists... or impress CEOs and other key decision makers.

How you will contribute. You can’t have a resume that forces the reader to try to figure out how to use you. If so, you won’t get many calls. Why? Because people simply won’t take the time to study resumes. They’ll put it in the “no pile”... or toss it. Your resume has just 20 seconds to make your case... and get people to read further... or better yet... call you. If it doesn’t do this, you won’t even get in the game.

Being scanning ready. Scanning software has forever changed the selection process. Most organizations only keep the best 5% of resumes they receive... and scan just the first page into their databases. When employers are looking for someone, they simply input key words... bring up matching resumes... and review them. That determines who gets interviewed.

Dynamic. In today’s market, you must inspire the reader... being boring doesn’t work. The words you select need to have some reasonable punch, substance and sparkle. Your resume needs to be interesting and compelling. There are a lot of excellent competitors out there... and the worst thing you can do is undersell yourself.

For more information be sure to check out SET Personal Marketing's Twitter, follow SET Personal Marketing's Facebook, watch SET Personal Marketing's videos on YouTube or visit SET Personal Marketing's website.