Multiple Streams of Income and the Job Seeker

Multiple Streams of Income and the Job Seeker Friday I reshared some ideas on creating multiple streams of income. I get emails from people who own a business saying they are doing the same thing creating multiple products/services that can generate various types of income (passive, etc.). I think some job seekers (or happily/unhappily employed people) wonder if they can have multiple streams of income, and if so, how do they do it? Let me relate a story.  Growing up I knew my dad, who worked for the government, could not have a side business.  Not only did he work all the time (so he had no time to pursue something else), there were policies in place precluding him from having a side gig. That, I thought, was normal. I didnt think too much of it. I was that typical worker-bee who wanted to do good stuff for the company and not have side distractions.  No big deal. Then, in my job search I had a really interesting interview.  It was after I had launched JibberJobber and I had my mind set on having JibberJobber run as a little side project that might make a few hundred bucks a month. I asked the interviewer, who was at the VP level, if there was a problem if I had this little side business. His reply floored me: Not a problem the manager across the hall has a movie theater and the one down the hall has a such-and-such business, and . My thought?  Why didnt I get this memo??? Why was I trusting 100% of my income to one person when I could have had side gigs that were producing a few hundred, perhaps a few thousand dollars each month? Talk about securing my own income! I missed the boat on that one. but I walked out of that room thinking NEVER AGAIN. The funny thing is, most of the people who were involved in the decision to lay me off had their own side gigs other income.  Why was I so blind? Can you have a side gig? Yes, you can.  Dont wait until you NEED the extra income, though. Multiple Streams of Income and the Job Seeker Friday I reshared some ideas on creating multiple streams of income. I get emails from people who own a business saying they are doing the same thing creating multiple products/services that can generate various types of income (passive, etc.). I think some job seekers (or happily/unhappily employed people) wonder if they can have multiple streams of income, and if so, how do they do it? Let me relate a story.  Growing up I knew my dad, who worked for the government, could not have a side business.  Not only did he work all the time (so he had no time to pursue something else), there were policies in place precluding him from having a side gig. That, I thought, was normal. I didnt think too much of it. I was that typical worker-bee who wanted to do good stuff for the company and not have side distractions.  No big deal. Then, in my job search I had a really interesting interview.  It was after I had launched JibberJobber and I had my mind set on having JibberJobber run as a little side project that might make a few hundred bucks a month. I asked the interviewer, who was at the VP level, if there was a problem if I had this little side business. His reply floored me: Not a problem the manager across the hall has a movie theater and the one down the hall has a such-and-such business, and . My thought?  Why didnt I get this memo??? Why was I trusting 100% of my income to one person when I could have had side gigs that were producing a few hundred, perhaps a few thousand dollars each month? Talk about securing my own income! I missed the boat on that one. but I walked out of that room thinking NEVER AGAIN. The funny thing is, most of the people who were involved in the decision to lay me off had their own side gigs other income.  Why was I so blind? Can you have a side gig? Yes, you can.  Dont wait until you NEED the extra income, though. Multiple Streams of Income and the Job Seeker Friday I reshared some ideas on creating multiple streams of income. I get emails from people who own a business saying they are doing the same thing creating multiple products/services that can generate various types of income (passive, etc.). I think some job seekers (or happily/unhappily employed people) wonder if they can have multiple streams of income, and if so, how do they do it? Let me relate a story.  Growing up I knew my dad, who worked for the government, could not have a side business.  Not only did he work all the time (so he had no time to pursue something else), there were policies in place precluding him from having a side gig. That, I thought, was normal. I didnt think too much of it. I was that typical worker-bee who wanted to do good stuff for the company and not have side distractions.  No big deal. Then, in my job search I had a really interesting interview.  It was after I had launched JibberJobber and I had my mind set on having JibberJobber run as a little side project that might make a few hundred bucks a month. I asked the interviewer, who was at the VP level, if there was a problem if I had this little side business. His reply floored me: Not a problem the manager across the hall has a movie theater and the one down the hall has a such-and-such business, and . My thought?  Why didnt I get this memo??? Why was I trusting 100% of my income to one person when I could have had side gigs that were producing a few hundred, perhaps a few thousand dollars each month? Talk about securing my own income! I missed the boat on that one. but I walked out of that room thinking NEVER AGAIN. The funny thing is, most of the people who were involved in the decision to lay me off had their own side gigs other income.  Why was I so blind? Can you have a side gig? Yes, you can.  Dont wait until you NEED the extra income, though.

How to Do It All Real Talk on Finding Balance

How to Do It All Real Talk on Finding Balance Our generation is known for finding meaning and balance in all that we do, both in and out of the workplace. Research has shown that we, Generation Y (those born in-between 1980 and 2000), value fulfillment over financial compensation. We care more about serving a greater economic or social purpose than we do about the size of our paycheck. Forbes.com reports that, in study done by the Intelligence Group on Generation Y, 64% of Millenials say its a priority for them to make the world a better place, and 88% want work-life integration. Work-life integration is the new trending term, and is not the same as work-life balance, because the lines that used to be drawn between work and the home are now incredibly blurry. Career and personal life are more integrated than ever before. In short, our generation wants to make a difference and to do it all. We are devout in our philosophies, motivated by our passions, and extremely dedicated to finding personal and professional purpose. We prefer collaborating over competing, and we desire bosses who mentor rather than intimidate. Being Superwoman aint easy. How can we possibly do it all without losing our minds? How can we make it all work? Seek Renewal When we are putting so much of ourselves into work, it makes it that much more important to really enjoy, and find fulfillment in, our off-time activities. The more we enjoy the little free time have, the more worthwhile and satisfactory it feels. This will help to renew and replenish you. Make plans to spend quality time with friends and loved ones, doing activities that you truly love. Laugh. Laughing helps to lower stress hormones in your body, and releases endorphins. We all could use more endorphins. Find Meaning Within Every Task Know exactly why you are doing what you are doing. You have to believe in the why in order to endure the how when you are feeling drained or over-extended. There will be times when you will feel burnt out, or like you simply cannot do it all anymore. The truth is that you can Ms. Career Girl! You are working this hard for very good reasons, and it is important to remind yourself of them. Remember the why. Know When to Move On Everything that you are doing should serve a purpose and help to better you. If it is a second job to help you make your bills or pay off a loan, then it should help you meet your financial goals. If it is a #sidehustle, it should bring you fulfillment in a way that your job cant. If it is a relationship, it should empower you and bring enjoyment to your life. If any of these things begin to take away from your quality of life, or if they are no longer serving a worthwhile purpose, MOVE ON. Its hard, but necessary. Be brave enough to cut ties and say goodbye; your happiness depends on it! Ask a Mentor for Advice Find a woman who you admire, that has what you want in life, and ask her how she does it. Did she successfully find a balance between family and career? Did she travel the world and still land that corner office by the time she was thirty-five? Ask her advice on how to accomplish the things that you want. She will be able to give valuable, and very real, advice on what she had to prioritize (and sacrifice) in order to get to where she is. If she can do it, so can you. Be Selfish With Your Time Your time is precious, and you should treat it as such. Everyone else in your life should understand and respect this too. Putting yourself first is an incredibly powerful thing, and it will allow you to prioritize what you need in order to get it all accomplished. Remember, your needs are fluid and will change. So, if you are feeling inspired and on a roll with your latest project- put in the extra hours to get it finished. If youve been putting in tons of overtime, schedule an extra yoga class or an impromptu Sunday brunch with girlfriends. Listen to your gut, it will not lead you astray. Hats off to all of you out there working hard and chasing your dreams! You are an inspiration. Do you have any tips for how to do it all and still keep your sanity? Tweet about it to us @MsCareerGirl!

7 Ways to Inject Creativity into Your Personal Brand

7 Ways to Inject Creativity into Your Personal Brand With personal branding becoming mainstream, it is really important to think of more ways to inject creativity in your personal brand. In the past simply securing yourname.com or starting a blog was a sure fire way to stand out, however, nowadays such actions are no longer the exception but the norm. A recent example of an incredibly brilliant way to creatively brand oneself is what Philippe Dubost did to sell himself with an online resume made to look like an Amazon page. His approach led to over 200,000 hits a day, close to 30,000 Facebook likes, and more importantly numerous job offers! To help inject some creativity into your personal branding efforts, consider one of the follow 7 ways to package your personal brand: 1) Infographics: Have you heard of Piktochart? Easel.ly? Infogr.am? Visual.ly? These are just a small handful of the various tools available to create infographics. Infographics are brilliant for creating a visual story of your personal brand. Many of these tools have free versions with a nice handful of templates to get you started. [We love infographics here at TUR you can see ours here   Editor] 2) Pinterest Create a board on Pinterest that communicates your brand pin images that show the story of you maybe even pin a video bio. Demonstrate your thought leadership by pinning content relevant to your field and expertise. The opportunities are endless but go in with a strategy and create specific boards related to your personal brand rather than just randomly pinning images. RELATED:  How to Optimise Your Pinterest Page [INFOGRAPHIC] 3) Wordle Wordle is a great visual tool where you can use words and phrases to communicate your brand attributes, your vision, or your brand story.  I often see people use wordle for a manifesto or the about page on their website. Here is a great example of an interactive wordle where each phrase is clickable and takes you to more information, images, videos, etc. 4) Paper.li Content curation is an awesome way to gain visibility. If you can make it easier for others to find relevant and compelling content then you have saved people time and frustration. That is worth its weight in gold! Set up an account on Paper.li and filter the huge amount of information to share the best content with people in your niche. Here is a great article with 5 ideas to brand yourself with Paper.Li. 5) PowToons If you are tired of using the standard PowerPoint or Keynote platforms to create a branded presentation, then check out PowToons. This is a fun DIY animated presentation tool that adds a very creative element to your presentations. 6) Present.me If you are still a committed slide-type presentation user and have no clue or desire to muck with a new tool like PowToons or Prezi, then Present.me is a great way to give your existing slides a personal touch. Present.me provides a platform to upload an existing presentation file and then record via your webcam an actually video of you presenting the slides. Your slides and the video of you exist side-by-side literally adding you to the presentation. 7) Vizify Vizify is a fun new way to promote your brand via social media. Vizify collects and transforms all the fragmented data about your brand across your social media platforms into a one unified and interactive visual profile.  TechCrunch  has called it the “slick new way to present your personal brand.” What creative tools do you use to promote your personal brand? Please share your ideas below.