ANSWERS
1. What would be my investment in GigResumes’ services?
Brand
Development culminating in "Tagline" &
Brand Summary $1750+
Brand-driven
Independent Consulting Resume: varies
Business
Development Consulting : $200/hour pro-rated
Website Development and Hosting : starts at $950.00
Brand-driven Biography : $495
Critical Project Initiatives : $495
Capabilities Statements : $495
Marketing Letters : $495
Proposal Letters : $495
Technical Summary : $150.00
References and Testimonials : $150.00
Brand Strategy Coaching : $200/hour pro-rated
Marketing Coaching : $200/hour pro-rated
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2. What is the GigResume.com process?
Personal Brand Development: Jean takes you
through a powerful process that results in brand definition
and articulation. You have free access to leading-edge
online modules that walk you through the process, and
Jean provides support throughout with her intuitive,
insightful brand coaching. Jean is a Certified Personal
Branding Strategist and knows how to help you take your
business out of the "commodity, low-rate, hard-to-sell
blues" to becoming a clearly defined, sought-after,
well-rewarded brand.
Marketing Materials: Jean works collaboratively with you to develop high-end, brand-driven marketing materials. After agreement on the scope of work, Jean will forward you a password to get you started on the personal branding process for entrepreneurs. (You may proceed at your own pace through these supported by Jean’s coaching.) You will also receive at the same time her Dig-for-Gold Strategy Questions. When you have completed these, Jean will interview you at length about your career, business, and success stories to develop the strategy and content for the marketing materials she will create. When the first drafts are complete, you will be asked to edit them. Finals are forwarded in Word as ASCII formats when work is complete.
Website Development: Jean develops the brand messaging utilizing the branding work completed and writes the copy for your website. She works with two strategic business partners (part of your GigResumes Web Portfolio investment) to provide you with website design and hosting for one year (and ongoing, affordable hosting thereafter). These two providers offer different degrees of customization and interaction with the designer as well as different price points.
Coaching: Coaching is offered in 50-minute units is available in packages of 1, 2, 3, or 4 times a month. Or, you may request a coaching session on an as-needed basis. You decide in conjunction with Jean what your needs are and the optimal coaching plan for you.
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3.
How long does the independent consulting resume
process take?
The process begins with your completion of the DFG and branding questions. When you have completed them and we have had our in-depth phone interview, you may expect your draft marketing materials in 14-20 business days.
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4. What does a consulting resume look like?
Your consulting resume looks different from a standard resume and provides different kinds of information. GigResume.com’s designs are tailored to the project. Please click here to see an example.
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5. Can you help me get my consulting / contacting business started?
I can help you with initial business development – formulating your business model, defining your service offerings, and creating a marketing plan. Services include : branding, marketing material creation, and sales & marketing skills coaching. In terms of back-end services, I can connect you with a top provider in the field. There you will find solutions for affordable health insurance, invoicing and collections, retirement plans, and employer-of-record benefits.
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6. Are you available down the road when I need an update or an adjustment to my marketing?
I have ongoing relationships with many clients. I am there when you need new marketing materials, strategic consulting, or just a savvy listener.
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7. Why should I choose you to help me grow my practice / business?
I offer a unique set of capabilities that converge at the intersection of branding and resume writing for IT executives. I am a Personal Branding Strategist and Certified Resume Writer with a focus on the IT industry. More significantly, my intuitive abilities, writing skills, creativity, and insight help me to uncover and showcase in high-end marketing materials the deep career content that helps set you apart. I am known for making a genuine personal connection with clients and communicating my interest in them and their careers. Bottom line? My work has produced career results! Please see testimonials interspersed throughout this site.
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8. Do you work with contractors or solopreneurs who are not in IT?
Depending on the project, I will sometimes take on other specialties. Having worked with people across a range of industries and professions, I am equipped to develop materials for independent workers in healthcare, the arts, HR, sales, not-for-profit sectors, energy etc.
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9. Can you help me with mass mailings, email campaigns, or graphic design for logo development?
I provide you with names of affordable, quality marketing resources. Distinctive visual elements can be incorporated into the materials I produce for you.
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10. What is personal branding?
Here is an article I wrote for Eons.com (over-50 Web portal) that will help you understand the concept.
Personal Branding: What It Is and Why You Need It
Copyright 2006, Jean Cummings
What do the most successful people over 50 have in common?
They know and express who they are. They have honed and communicated their professional identity and made others aware of their personal attributes – their expertise, talents, and deepest commitments. In other words, these people have developed a personal brand.
Mention
their names, and you instantly think of a set of personal
attributes, in much the same way we might associate attributes
such as "reliable, fuel-efficient, and low-maintenance"
with a certain brand of car. However, a personal brand
is not a superficial marketing ploy. It is as different
from a product brand as a dynamic, complex person is from
an inanimate object. "Brand you" emerges from
a person's deepest commitments, interests, and unique
genius.
For
example, we might characterize the Bill Gates' personal
brand as follows :
Technology
genius: Harvard dropout who founded Microsoft
to become the world's richest man.
Philanthropist: Puts his wealth to work in huge global projects for the public good.
And Oprah Winfrey's powerful brand springs to mind when
you mention her first name :
Brilliant entrepreneur: Billionaire talk-show TV personality and media owner.
Social pioneer: As a black woman, overcame racial and gender barriers to be embraced by households of every race and ethnicity in 12 countries.
Interpersonal Genius: Generates a personal connection with both her guests on the show and the millions of people who watch her program.
VALUE OF HAVING A PERSONAL BRAND TO YOU!
Whether
you're a celebrity or just a knowledgeable, mature worker
with years of valuable experience, establishing a clear
and authentic personal brand can bring multiple benefits.
It allows you to :
- Control the direction of your career by increasing
your visibility and ability to attract and land target
jobs. You'll spend less time and money on job searches
and personal marketing because your brand will do a
lot of the selling for you (online, offline and wherever
you go).
- Request and receive higher compensation for your work because your offerings are unique and differentiated in your market.
- Experience personal fulfillment by aligning your career with your authentic self.
Conversely,
without a strong personal brand, you may miss out on key
business and career opportunities. For instance, an independent
IT consultant who wants to snag a client that is introducing
a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system into its
organization may get passed over in the bidding process
if he hasn't clearly branded himself as a CRM expert.
You can do it!
Here are five tips for building your personal brand:
1.
Spend some time thinking and talking with others about
who you are professionally and how you are perceived.
If the two aren't the same, plan a strategy for bringing
them into alignment. This might begin with rewriting your
resume.
2. Use one or more public channel(s) to promote your personal brand. Create a personal Web site, blog, or online resume that reflects your personal style, describes what you do, details your background, and conveys your unique value. Include the credentials, experience, skills, and/or personal attributes that differentiate you from people with similar profiles. Tell readers what they will gain by hiring or working with you.
3.
Use visuals. Photographs and graphic designs that reinforce
your verbal message can create powerful, positive impressions
in a reader's mind. Consider hiring (or bartering with)
a design professional to create a logo that reflects your
personal brand and to help you with effective layouts
for your promotional materials.
4. Reinforce your personal brand in all your interactions with others. Mention your key attributes and special qualities in voicemail messages, your email signature, and whenever you speak with current or potential clients face to face.
5. Treat your personal brand as a work in progress. Experiment to see what works and discard approaches that do not produce results. Use your personal brand to create employment, avocation and retirement solutions that fulfill and energize you throughout your life.
Good luck. May you achieve enhanced fulfillment in your endeavors through building your personal brand and showcasing it effectively to your target audience!
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Jean Cummings, Copyright 2006
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