Okay, so this is about a book I have been recommended to read by Karen Swim. No, I have not read it, yet. But I will.

The only reason I recommend it to you is because so far every book Karen recommended was a win. Not in the sense that I took everything in the books into my heart without any objections, but because they were thought provoking books. So this recommendation is a recommendation based on trust (RBOT for those who love acronyms).
So far what I know about the book is that it made the Top 20 in all books this week – or was that the last? – and is close to making the New York Times bestseller list for the week. What? Yes, I know that The DaVinci Code got similar rankings, which somewhat questions the value of these lists, but lets pretend that was a one time mistake.

This is book about stories, the power of the stories, and all the usual self search hassle you can think of woven into a story.

Standing on a mountaintop in Switzerland, Jeff thought he had figured out the secret to living a great life. Eight years later he was a rising star in his company and looking forward to the birth of his first child. Then it all unraveled. Follow his extraordinary journey as he discovers what he missed on the mountain and how to recapture his success at work and in life.

It is getting more and more difficult to tell anything new or original about these things – it’s not the fault of the authors, or the current age, the ancestors had a couple thousand years of a headstart you see -, and I am curious how this book tackles the challenge. I am sure it does well, I trust Karen’s judgement.

Also, Noah Blumenthal promised to donate 100% of his royalties from the bestselling week to the Miami Children’s Hospital, which I find a really good idea, and if for nothing else, you should buy the book for this reason – you can do worse than pay an author who actually gives back to the world.

And one more thing: watch the video of the book on YouTube – of course it has a video. Almost everything has a video.

Karen D. Swim released a new e-book title “Write your own resume”. Being in the middle of job seeking, and frankly, being a person who never could write a decent resume I was quick to jump for the possibility to get this book.
Yes, the fact that Karen is a friend made it pretty easy, as she e-mailed it to me.

As I said I have never been too good with resumes – I am pretty bad with self-marketing, and I can easily dismiss things I created or acomplished that should not be dismissed.
Naturally I wanted to learn all the secrets to the resume writing. Well, it is as suspected, most of the secret is hard work and knowing what to do. Surprise.

“Resume writing is part art and part science. The art of resume writing is one reason it is difficult to judge a resume writer by one or two samples. Resumes are individual. Your value proposition is unique to your experiences, approach and skills. I have presented general guidelines only, as there are a number of variables that are completely subjective. The key is to know your market, and design your resume accordingly.”

That’s the Summary of the book from Karen. There you go, if you translate it, it says: “you gotta work pal”. Actually I was hoping it will be more along the “add personal details, shake it, et voil?, our Wonder-Resume Cooker 2009 produced a freshly baked, marvelous, killer resume. Here’s your new job”.? Ok, a guy can dream, no?

What’s in the book? First of all a really concise check list of materials to be used in your resume.

I got a bit scared seeing the item “Social Media Profiles”.
Being the net-addicted social media dweller, it will take at least a week to get all of them – 3 days to remember every one of them -, but then it’s for my future job. And I need a comprehensive list anyway.

Then after you get everything together Karen leads you through the outline of your resume with examples, and explanations of whats and whys.
I for one always understood that you have this plain text up front, and I was told what kind of info should go there, but never the why, and the goal of the section. Knowing that honestly makes it a bit easier to fill out that bit

And then there is the tips section called “Writing and Design Tips”.
A lot of them are common sense – don’t mix 34,956 different types of fonts -, but as we all know common sense is not that common.
When the inner-designer is released it can run a pretty scary amok on everything we do. Don’t let him.

All in all, the whole book is 23 pages full of useful tips and guidelines in an easy to digest format.

Admittedly not everyone will be able to write a outstanding resume after reading the book, but what is important everyone will be able to write a better resume at least, and everyone will be able to work better with a professional resume writer.
Like starting with a huge armload of material prepared for her instead of spending a week after the first talk to gather these materials, or simply understanding what the resume writer needs and why.
Understanding is the foundation of successful teamwork – and successful teamwork means a higher chance of a successful result.

So I say check “Write your own resume” out – and if you think share your opinion here.

You’re either a Purple Cow or you’re not. You’re either remarkable or invisible. Make your choice. – Seth Godin

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A rare post, but then, Karen deserves it. We met almost a year ago – somewhere in the middle of February – and when you still keep in touch with someone you know only through the net after a year, that means there is some kind of value.

I would like to say Thank You for all the help she gave me in the past year, the witty and funny tweets, the insightful posts, and that she regularly comes over here to comment on my posts.

All in all, I wish you a happy birthday Karen and many returns of the day. And I wish another year full of great posts and lessons and friends.

Image by HubSpot via Flickr

Karen Swim is a wonderful person in my opinion. First of all she is a helpful lady, she is (add an undefined number of positive adjectives here), and she learns from everything.
Plus, she has similar views to mine, which is always a plus in your friends.
Now, in her last post she learned about business on the internet. Says she. I think she just got reaffirmed in her strict belief.
You see, everyone gets all these messages in his mailbox, on twitter, on websites

The secret to build a huge audience for your blog!

5000 visitors a week!

I have to admit that they are tempting offers. My blog has about 5-8 visitors a day, so the logical thing would be to rush to the offer. But, frankly, I don’t care that much about visitor numbers.

Karen quotes Steve Woodruff’s tweet on the subject and adds her own comment

“How I built a Twitter network of ___ in ___ days.” Sheesh. How about, how to build relationships and add value over the long-term?

To that I say, Amen! I read articles, posts and tweets on how to build subscriber numbers, how to drive traffic to your website and how to build an empire on a social media network, but are we missing the true value of developing relationships with real people?

I don’t know how many people read Karen’s blog, but I know that whenever she gives her opinion, asks for help, shares her worries, there are a lot of comments, offers and friendly messages.
I know how many people read my blog and I am sure that I did not trick them here with some arcane tactics – actually, based on the number I am absolutely sure that I could even name them, tell you their birthday dates, what they are doing as a hobby and so on.

You can argue that business does not need this relationship, for which I say that’s nonsense. If I ever need a copywriter in English, or someone to help me with my resume I know where I will go. If I need advice about building a new fence, to design a business card or a website, I know where I will go.

I will go to the person I know and trust, and not because I expect a discount, but because I know they will do a good job, and won’t shove their sugar coated junk down my throat.
So yes, Karen said it really

We do business with people, not numbers to be manipulated into clicking our junk and buying our stuff. Instead of screaming to be heard, quietly listen and allow those human beings to tell you what they want and need. You may be pleasantly surprised at just how pleasant business becomes when you make it personal.

And I say, Amen to that.

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