Know Your Worth

"Bodacious" means to be bold, outstanding, and remarkable.
Take those attributes to work and you're on your way to
building a fulfilling, bodacious career. Does having a
bodacious career sound exciting to you? It is! After
starting as an $8 an hour customer service rep, I rose
through the ranks of AOL, accepting four promotions and
surviving over six layoffs to become the head of corporate
training for 12,000 employees. Along the way I learned I
needed to be bodacious to achieve the career I wanted. Out
of that experience I created my "cheat sheet" of essential
Bodacious Career Builders. Here's one: Know Your Worth

Self-esteem is the climate control in your life's house. No
matter what is raging outside, when your self-esteem is
healthy and functioning, you are safe, dry and secure
within. Unfortunately, our culture tends to confuse
self-esteem with self-absorption, self-centeredness or just
plain old selfishness, and we discourage women from putting
ourselves first. It's still seen as somehow charming to be
modest to the point of self-deprecation ("this old thing?")
or to be demur to the point of stepping out of our own
spotlight that you worked so hard to create.

Observe the ways you might be putting yourself down,
without even knowing it. Telling jokes on yourself.
Confessing feelings of inadequacy to clients, coworkers or
bosses. Taking on assignments of lesser quality or no
long-term benefit. Allowing vague or inaccurate criticisms
go unchallenged in your performance appraisal. Accepting a
salary that is less than what your skills are worth.

If your self-worth is tightly entwined with the company you
work for, a single downturn in the market could send you
spinning down the drain. You would be tempted to preserve
your job there no matter what and possibly loose
opportunities in other companies or the direction of your
career. The Bodacious Woman always knows her worth. She
knows how her skills are valued in the marketplace and what
those skills are worth, both strategically and financially.
With a clear understanding of her intrinsic worth, the
Bodacious Woman is able to bring her contributions to a
wide variety of markets. When hard times come, she
repackages her skills to appeal to the new marketplace.
All the while, the original value remains intact - never
lessened, always growing.

Bodacious Women also know their price. When it comes to
negotiating a salary, most working women are clueless. The
good girl mode kicks in under pressure. We're afraid of
looking too aggressive, ungrateful, greedy or full of
ourselves. We are just grateful for the offer. It goes
against our social training to go after a better
compensation and benefits package. In fact, it doesn't
even occur to most of us. Keep this in mind, when hiring
managers describe a salary and benefits package, they have
one main objective in mind – to get the best possible
talent for the least possible expense. They're not going
to volunteer the fact that they can go higher in salary or
negotiate concessions in your benefits package. Many
companies, especially large ones, conduct regular labor
market assessments to determine if their salaries are
competitive. They use this information to adjust their
established pay ranges for each position. Because payroll
is one of the biggest expenses of running a business, they
often offer you the lowest salary possible and hope to keep
you satisfied.

What they want you to know is that their philosophy to pay
competitively. They want you to feel that your skills and
abilities are valued so you will produce good work. What
they don't want you to know is how the salary they are
offering compares with the established pay range. Don't
assume it's within the range. Generally, if your hiring
manager thinks you will be satisfied with a salary below
the pay range, he or she will extend the initial offer
below that spread.

So, before negotiating a salary, do your homework of what
your skills are currently worth in the market place. Check
out these Web sites and come prepared:

www.salary.com

www.salaryexpert.com

www.ecomponline.com

In addition, always ask for more than the initial offer,
even if it's only $2,000 or $3,000 more. You'll
communicate that you highly value your skills and the
contributions you can offer their company and that you
expect to be paid for it. Your self-esteem will be shining
through.

BODACIOUS CAREER BUILDER: Be clear about what your skills
and abilities are worth in the marketplace and don't settle
for anything less.

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Mary Foley, author of "Bodacious! Woman: Outrageously in
Charge of Your Life and Lovin' It!" and founder of the
Bodacious Women's Club, inspires women to be courageously
in charge of their lives. You can be inspired, too! Get the
free audio "Live Like Your Nail Color!" today at
http://www.LiveLikeYourNailColor.com .

Stop "Moving Your Own Piano" (You'll Then Attract More Clients While Making More)

Quote: "Invest three percent of your income in yourself
(self–development) in order to guarantee your future." –
Brian Tracy

Sometimes, the signs that it's time to invest in taking
your business to go to the next BIG level show up without
notice. Take this past Monday, for example. The second call
of my Preview Teleseminar Series for my workshop was
scheduled and I was set to interview two inspiring and
motivating solopreneurs on how they use the Client
Attraction systems daily to make well into the 6–figures.
We had close to a thousand entrepreneurs registered for the
call and I was excited to host it.

Then, the unthinkable happened. As instructed, hundreds of
people starting showing up 10 minutes early to make sure
they would make it onto the line before it was maxed out.
As I was greeting them, I kept asking if my two featured
guests were on the line. My heart kept sinking further and
further into my stomach as I realized neither of them could
get on the line as moderators.

Call it a systems glitch, call it a disaster, there was
nothing I could do. Emails were going back and forth, with
my special guests telling me they were indeed on the line
but no one could hear either of them. I would have paid
ANYTHING at that moment to be able to get an operator on
the line to fix it for me. Anything.

I was crumbling inside, unsure of what to do. Have the call
WITHOUT my two featured guests or reschedule it entirely? I
chose to go on (perseverance) and asked everyone to hang up
and dial in again, and was then able to get ONE of my
guests on the moderator line. I interviewed her and it went
great. Then, as she hung up to let the other guest onto the
moderator line, I got cut off OF MY OWN CALL! I tried
several times to get back onto the line and was blocked out
for several minutes. (I found out later that Mercury was in
retrograde.)

The whole thing unfolded like that scene from the movie
Swingers when he leaves those messages, one after the
other, sinking deeper and deeper into trouble. Have you
seen it? Finally, I got on as a "regular" participant and
had to keep the line un–muted for the rest of the call.

As I mentioned, I would have done (and paid) ANYTHING to be
able to press a button and get an operator to help me.
Throughout this episode, my intuition kept nudging at me
saying, "Fabienne, you should have invested in your
business and gotten the help you needed BEFORE this
happened." But after years of frugally using basic
services, I'd gotten too lazy and perhaps too complacent to
spring for that PAID bridge line the million–dollar
info–marketers are using.

The good news is, the call ended up being a huge hit.
People wrote me to tell me how inspiring it was, how
motivated they got as a result and ironically, no one
mentioned the technical difficulties. Several people signed
up for the workshop as a direct result of that call, and I
was thrilled that no one even brought up the snafus. But I
learned three MAJOR lessons:

Persevere. No situation is ever as bad as YOU think it is.
You may be crumbling inside, but in other people's
perceptions, it's just another day at the office. Keep
going. It will always work itself out. Let others take care
of details for you so that you can focus on your "genius
work", the stuff that actually makes you mo.ney. You see,
Sinatra didn't move his own piano each time he sang at a
gig. He had a team in place to handle those details so that
he could focus on two things: Singing and Getting More
Gigs. And that's what you should be focusing on too:
Working With Your Clients and Getting More Clients.
Everything else can be delegated. Sometimes, it's time to
put the frugal part of you behind and REALLY invest in your
business. No more holding back. When it's time to grow,
it's also time to take out your wallet and INVEST in making
mo.re. My experience has been that, when I do invest in my
business, it always comes back to me at least 4 to 10 times
over. And although "money" is usually the excuse I've used
for not doing something (and I'm not the only one, you have
too!), I've found that if I really look at a situation, I
almost always have the resources to invest or can find a
way to get them. Here's what's going to happen as a result
of my lessons this week:

1) I will be investing in that paid bridge line with all
the bells and whistles (and an OPERATOR) and in the success
of my business at the same time. If I want to reach a
million–dollar business, then I've got to have the systems
in place to make that happen.

2) I will add even more team members to my staff, so that I
can focus on creating more high–value content and Client
Attraction programs to help even more people succeed.

3) I will be less "hard on myself" when something I can't
control in the moment happens. It too shall pass.

Just for the purpose of today's article, I'm adjusting
Brian Tracy's quote from above:

"Invest three percent of your income in yourself [and your
business] in order to guarantee your future."

Your Assignment: How will YOU invest in your business this
week? Notice what you have NOT taken advantage of because
you're using the excuse of "not having enough money." Using
that excuse is an insidious form of self-sabotage. It's a
mindset that keeps you playing small and limits your
growth. Time to stop being frugal and take action. The
money will naturally show up to help you pay for it (it
always does.).

----------------------------------------------------
Like many others, you might be having trouble changing that
mindset on your own. It's probably the limiting belief that
once you get to the next level, you'll feel overwhelmed. If
so, make it a point to join us at the Client Attraction
workshop. We're going to totally change that limiting
mindset, once and for all. You can get more info and sign
up here: http://www.ClientAttractionWorkshop.com .

You're Not Alone If You Hate Going To Job Interviews

"I know I could do the job if they would just give it to
me. Why do I have to prove myself? I meet all the
qualifications they are looking for. I could do this job
with my eyes closed. Can't they tell from my resume that I
am qualified?"

Ever say any of those things – or at least think them? You
are not alone. Most people dread going to job interviews.
In fact, some people "hate" job interviews!

First of all, this is not an exact science and there is a
good deal of subjective judgment that goes on. It's very
much like dating or starting a new friendship with someone.
You have to get to know the other person, and you usually
do this by asking questions and telling each other
"stories" about your past.

That's basically what you do in a job interview, but it
doesn't feel that way because you feel put on the spot and
judged. It's time to realize that there will be certain
things that you can control and certain things that are out
of your control.

There are two basic questions behind every interview:

1."Can he/she do the job?" (I am assuming you are qualified
or you probably wouldn't have been invited to the
interview).

2. "Do we like her – is she going to fit in?" (This area is
more significant than you might think).

Because the interview is a "getting to know you" process,
and if you are not being true to yourself, you are not
showing the interviewer the "real" you. That is unfortunate
because sooner or later you will have to "come out of the
closet" and be yourself. And then the trouble often begins.

I have a question for you. How do you feel about the people
that are interviewing you? Are they the type of people you
would like to work with/for? You are checking them out (or
should be) while they are interviewing you. This is
something that most people forget.

Below are some common questions from candidates with
interview dread.

"I am often invited for second interviews – is that a good
sign?"

If you are being asked back for a second interview they
must have liked something about you and your experience or
they wouldn't even consider bringing you back. You have
passed through the first tunnel – "Can she do the job?"
Now, they're going to look at you a little closer to see if
they "like you." Will you fit in?

"The feedback I received via my friend was that the
interviewers found me "too confident."

What should I conclude from that feedback?"

There is a difference between being "cocky" and being
"confident." Anything taken to extreme is not good.

I believe the best mind-set to go to an interview with is
that of a "consultant." This company has a problem and you
are there to find out what it is. You will then let them
know you heard and understand the problem and have the
solution to their problem – if you do have one. As a
consultant you can fix their problem – do the work they
need to have done.

"They asked me about my weakness and I brought up my
dominant personality as one of my weak points and explained
that I'm aware of it and try to manage it. I have a feeling
that put them off. "

Bad idea - you are too honest and showing all your cards –
too soon.

The best answer to the "weakness" question is to talk about
something that you are working on improving or changing.
Stay away from personality. It will be a while before you
change a "dominate personality."

Think of something that you would like to do better: be a
better speaker, be more patient with people who don't pull
their weight, be more selective when you take on more
assignments, etc.

There is a technique called "the sandwich technique" where
you start with a positive statement; slip in the negative
(weakness), and then tell how you are working on improving
that trait.

"I was told the HR manager was actually scared of me."

I wouldn't let the feedback from one woman throw you off
track. It may be that you are interviewing at the wrong
places. Maybe you need to seek out a company who is looking
for a more aggressive attitude. I am a believer in the fact
that if you are the "right person" for the job the
interviewers will overlook a lot of other differences or
shortcomings.

These examples cover some of the more common problems faced
by candidates. You can see that others are facing similar
fears and worries in job interviews every day. The main
thing is for you to control what you can control – prepare
for the interview, and to let go of the things that you do
have any control over. If someone is "scared" of you, it's
not going to be a very rewarding relationship for anybody.

One last thought – think of this as a dating process. You
did not (hopefully) get a marriage proposal after every
date. You will not get an offer after every interview.
Sometimes you just have to let go. It is out of your
control.

----------------------------------------------------
Carole Martin, America's #1 Interview Expert and Coach, can
give you interviewing tips like no one else can. Get a copy
of her FREE 9-part "Interview Success Tips" report by
visiting Carole on the web at http://www.interviewcoach.com

How to Prepare to Win

It's been my experience that most entrepreneurs miss a very
important step when it comes to the success of their
businesses: they fail to plan. When you are your business
it's extremely easy to get caught up in putting out the
latest fire or being distracted by the newest email. (I'm
so guilty of this one that I now turn my email off when I'm
working on anything but email!) In order to really be on an
energy track of pulling in clients and growing your
business, you must plan.

Some professionals that I've chatted with actually boast
about not having a plan. They love that they're
self-employed and feel entitled to freedom. I agree with
the love of freedom, but if you want to have a juicy,
dripping with clients business, you must set yourself up
for that (because then that's what you'll get). I'm not a
big sports fan, but I really doubt that the tennis players
that just wrapped up Wimbledon went in with an
"ah-let's-just-wing-it" attitude. Is your life and business
really worth less than a tennis-match? I'm going to say, NO!

Energy Rich Entrepreneurs are excellent planners. They are
always looking ahead. Charting when they want a project
completed by and putting in place systems that guarantees
it is completed. Now here's the jiggy-real Energy Rich
Entrepreneurs don't limit their plans to only what they
know. They create a vision, commit to it, and set about
finding someone who'll know how to get it done (with
results!) and is willing to help.

Energy Rich Entrepreneurs aren't afraid to ask for and
receive help. They know it's the best way to win.

Now, let's also be honest, planning isn't all the rage.
Planning isn't about instant pleasure. It's much more fun
to just hand over the responsibility to someone else, right?

Well, let's do a re-frame: what about creating your own
vision? Seeing how you want it to look? Dreaming of how you
want your business to be…believing it can happen…going
about crafting the steps along the way…doing what it takes
to charge your goals and dreams with energy.

That's exciting. Let's get to it!

Call-to-Action:

Take out a calendar.

Look at the next 90 Days (approximately 3 months).

What would you like to have completed by that time?

What would you like to be doing differently?

Create a 90-Day action plan for yourself that has your
bigger year and life vision in mind.

Keep it somewhere you can see it.

In 90 days…repeat :) This keeps the energy moving forward!

----------------------------------------------------
Heather Dominick, Solo-Entrepreneur Expert, has over 10
years of teaching and coaching experience. Heather's
primary focus is in coaching entrepreneurs to identify
sources for increasing business profit and making
successful business changes. To sign up to receive your
free business building e-course go here now
http://www.energyrichcoach.com

Ten Steps To Hiring The Right Person For The Right Job

Hiring the right person in the right job, whether through
recruiting from outside, internal transfer, or internal
promotion is, by far, the most difficult and rewarding
challenge facing most organizations. It always will be. It
is also the greatest opportunity to increase the
effectiveness of any organization. Here are Ten Steps any
organization should take to improve their batting average
in this most critical part of their enterprise.

Step 1. Start with the end in mind. Start by answering the
question " What would be the perfect match of candidate to
job requirements?" Get specific - talk about the job, not
the person. Determine the best possible skill, experience,
industry knowledge, education and accomplishment
combination that would make the best possible candidate.
Ask the people with knowledge of the position - the
stakeholders - to provide that information - in a structure
where it can be captured. Don't let the applicant pool
create the job requirements.

Step 2. Get to the heart of the matter: since success is
most often created by the right mix of behaviors, attitudes
and values, and personal skills, get the stakeholders to
identify what mix of those three elements are needed for
success in the job. This step becomes increasingly
important at higher job levels. There may be a Job
Description, but most of those documents simply aren't
designed to capture that kind of information. And few are
dynamic enough to reflect changes in content. This requires
a structured approach to identifying those elements. It can
be done - and done well. And if it is done well and becomes
a part of the process used to select, it will increase
success - a lot.

Step 3. Expand the pool of applicants: the Wall Street
Journal ran a first page article on symphonies that had
been plagued with a shortage of qualified musician
candidates. One symphony started a " blind audition." The
candidates played the audition music from behind a screen -
the interviewers couldn't see them - but they could hear
their music. Funny thing happened - lots more qualified
candidates were identified. No more knockouts on gender,
race, brand of instrument, hair style, school ties,
appearance, fat, skinny, et al. Make sure your organization
isn't knocking out people that can "play your music" at the
beginning of the selection process.

Step 4. Train a team of stakeholders so they can
effectively evaluate candidates in the interview phase of
selection. Most organizations do no training in evaluation
skills - big mistake. If you have had more than your share
of mistakes in selection, continuing to do the things done
in the past and expecting a different outcome doesn't make
much sense. Provide the interviewers with full information
on the position, and assign each interviewer specific areas
of evaluation.

Step 5. In 99% of cases, no applicant will be a perfect
fit. Define the "must haves," "good to haves," and "nice to
haves" before the interview process. Don't let the
interviewers rationalize those requirements based on the
available applicant pool.

Step 6. Supplement interview evaluations, reference checks
and other information with assessments to help define fit.
If you currently use assessments, audit their effectiveness
and the degree of trust and application they really have.
There are great assessments and assessment processes
available - the status quo is not a good reason to continue
to use what was used in the past.

Step 7. Act quickly, decisively and with purpose in the
selection cycle. Nothing impresses top candidates more than
a process that communicates organization, purpose and
decisiveness.

Step 8. Should the hiring manager say the candidate
selected for employment is "the best we could find, "
continue to look. That rationalization has caused more
selection failures than any other.

Step 9. Select the person that the organization, based on
objective measures and intuitive feelings, is convinced is
the right person. Then help them succeed - but stay close -
no people decision is ever 100% accurate. The best thing to
do in a mistake situation is act on it as soon as it is
evident that a mistake has been made. People in the
organization will know within two weeks to three months if
a mistake was made. Unfortunately, in many organizations,
it takes a year or more for the "leadership" to acknowledge
the mistake and act.

Step 10. Create a final feedback step in the selection
process to evaluate what could have been done better or
differently. Have successful hires participate in that
evaluation.

Ten steps - sounds like a lot - it isn't. The organizations
that use the Ten Steps in this process are much more
successful in their selections than the ones that don't. If
you can see ways to improve your own process by using all
or some of these Ten Steps, then get rid of the status quo
and change - today.

----------------------------------------------------
Andy Cox founded Cox Consulting Group in 1995 after
extensive experience in leadership positions in Fortune 500
corporations. His focus is on helping clients select,
develop, retain and enhance the performance of leaders and
emerging leaders Click on http://www.coxconsultgroup.com
for more information on the selection of the right people
for the right jobs.