How To Effectively Use Those End of Year Quiet Times To Get Ahead

Jessica Kiely – The FRANK Team

When all of the Christmas parties are almost over for the year all most people can think about is going to the beach, Christmas Shopping and what they’re doing for New Years. But you are still “open for business”. How can you and your team effectively use that quieter end of year and early New Year time to get ahead and set yourself up for stellar results in 2009?

Here are some FRANK ideas for you and your team:

v The quiet time is the perfect time to reflect on the performance of your team and see how 2009 can be even better. Creating an open and fun environment to cover areas like highlighting successes & challenges experienced in the year, identifying areas for improvement and brainstorming solutions. And then most important, creating an action plan for implementing solutions to create an even better 2009. All of this needs to be done in a fun and open environment where everyone contributes.

In the “festive spirit” we have a great bonus for you today. We have a created a Day Outline for your End Of Year Team Performance Reflection, or what we call Re-Fresh that follows The Frank Team’s SCITSA formula. You can use this template to run your own Re-Fresh Day.

To get your FREE Re-Fresh Workshop Template email us at jessica@frankteam.com.au

v Schedule some team building activities. These don’t need to break the budget either. You can organise and run some simple and fun activities yourself. Or even better - get each person on your team to come up with their team building activity that they run with everyone, so you get all different flavours of activities. A quick web search gives you a huge list of Do-It-Yourself activities http://wilderdom.com/games/InitiativeGames.html and http://www.teampedia.net/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page You could try a Mini Olympics, Cooking or Art. It can be team building just coming up with the team building activities!

v Have a spring clean in your office environment. Identify as a team what needs some “work” and then schedule in blocks of time to get it done, doing it in blocks of time. Your work environment will feel lighter, more organised and ready for a brand spanking New Year. And if effective spring cleaning is what you are after then check out http://directory.homestead.com/article/spring-clean-up-of-your-office ! And to make it fun, turn it into a competition. As a team create the Spring-Clean-O-Meter that is a rating system. Give everyone a time period and then go around and rate each area using your Spring-Clean-O-Meter. Give away a cool prize to the best spring cleaner!

v Identify skills gaps in your team and find opportunities to fill those through some skills training. Perhaps your team needs better sales, technology or finance skills to produce even better results in 2009. As a team, identify those areas and see who would like or benefit from training in what. Give each person a budget and then they need to research and find the best option for their needs and budget. Then to ensure the learning is widespread, once the training has been undertaken each of those people gives a short presentation to everyone else, helping them to learn the skills they have just learnt. See below for the skills training that The FRANK Team can help you with.

v Spend time on Career Progression Planning for individuals in your team. We often don’t take the time, because we don’t have the time, to do a check in on how we are progressing in our career and where we would like to go. Similar to how businesses do their end of year review, giving staff the same time to review their careers is really beneficial to help staff re-focus and feel valued for your investment in them. It can really be as simple as where are you now, where would you like to be, what do you need to do to get there to then create a Career Profession Plan from.

If running this yourself totally freaks you out then see below how The FRANK Team can come in and run a fun, interactive and cost effective session for you, cos we love doing this stuff!

Even if you do this regularly with your staff, and have a structured program for it, the end of year is still a great time to do this, as a period of time is coming to an end and this is a natural time to reflect and reassess goals and priorities for the coming year.

The Frank Team can help you with:

v Career Progression Plan workshops

v Team Building activities that are run in-house

v Facilitating your Re-Fresh End of Year Team Performance Reflection Day

Ask us how: Jessica@frankteam.com.au Ph: (02) 99664333

All of our sessions are fun, engaging & cost effective. For session information you can visit us at http://www.frankteam.com.au/corporates/ .

Just what is a "young entrepreneur"?

Did you know there are over 50,000 young Australians under the age of 25 running their own business? Yep, that’s right. Even 15 year olds are starting their own businesses; cool hey?!

You may know one of them, or perhaps some of the young people you work with have that entrepreneurial spark in them, or perhaps you have thought of Being the Boss yourself!

I was at a networking event recently, and whilst chatting to someone about the work that The FRANK Team does with young entrepreneurs, I was asked ‘What exactly is a young entrepreneur?’ The many ways in which we classify a ‘young entrepreneur’ immediately sprang to mind – age, mindset, action, personality, experience. So I thought I’d sit down and really think about what it is to be a young entrepreneur. It reminded me of the time when I first started my business at 19, all eager and full of ideas!

And then this fab email came through....

Hi Frank Team!

I receive all of your newsletters including Ignite, and I just wanted to drop by a real positive comment and tell you how much it has helped and influenced me!

Because of the thought-provoking and inspiring nature of the magazine, I began my own business about 7 months ago at the age of 16! I'm an hsc student now, managing my own local dance school called "Inspire". I aim to provide a safe, fun and non-competitive environment where children can freely express themselves without being exposed to inappropriate choices of music and ways of moving. My passion and love for dance as an art form is now being passed on, and I just want to thank you for the inspiration, encouragement and guidance that I find in your newsletters!

So here is just to encourage and to thank the Frank Team!

Regards

,Jemma Nicoll

Awesome stuff Jemma!

So who are these ‘young entrepreneurs’ apart from Jemma and myself? You can learn more about what it is to be a ‘young entrepreneur” right here http://www.frankteam.com.au/bizarticles/calling-all-young-entrepreneurs.aspx . I have put together a great article packed with ideas and tips on spotting enterprising youngsters, plus your very own Young Entrepreneur SnapShot audit to test if have some of the critical entrepreneurial attributes.

So what can you do to help your young people learn more about starting their own business?

The Frank Team would love to come to you and present one of our inspiring Youth Biz workshops for you and your young people. We really believe that starting a business as a young person is a viable career option and more young people should be exposed to it, just like Jemma. Why? It’s totally possible, you are in control, you learn so much very quickly and being young is the best time to give it a go!

PLUS, take advantage of Global Entrepreneurship Week and unleash the entrepreneur in your young people by getting The Frank Team to come and do what we love to do – inspiring young entrepreneurs. November 17^th to 23^rd is the week. The official page is http://www.unleashingideas.org/country/AU for Australia.

The FRANK Team was founded and is run by young entrepreneurs. We have a passion for encouraging and empowering other young people to believe in their ideas, get started and build a life they love in control of their own business.

There is our one hour Business YOU program.

Through stories and demonstrations the young people will come to learn what it means to think like an entrepreneur and how that can help them in their lives and careers. They will hear directly from a young person out there right now running their own business. It covers what an entrepreneur is and asks students to look at themselves, innovative thinking and start up steps and tips. It is great for years 10 through to 12.

Or perhaps our YOUTH-BIZ workshop that can be run as a three hour or full day workshop would be best for your students.

This is an interactive student workshop for up to 50 Year 10 and 11 students on entrepreneurial, innovation & essential career skills. It covers personality traits of an entrepreneur, thinking innovatively, tools for creating opportunities, inspiration from role models, basic steps for starting a business plus support and connection to the youth biz industry.

As always, The Frank Team comes to you as we have fab young entrepreneur presenters in each state and we bring all of our resources with us to run the sessions.

Prices for our one hour Business YOU sessions start from $465 (inc GST - for metro locations) and from $1500 (inc GST - for metro locations) for a full day for the Youth Biz workshops.

Contact us now for a personalised quote and outline of Business YOU and YOUTH-BIZ. Help your young people learn more about starting their own business today!

Call Jessica on (02)99664333 or email Jessica@frankteam.com.au ASAP to book in time for Global Entrepreneurship Week from November 17^th to 23^rd.

To learn more about how I started my first business at the age of 19 head on over to http://www.frankteam.com.au/ourteam/about-jessica-kiely.aspx

Remember to learn more about what it is to be a young entrepreneur at http://www.frankteam.com.au/bizarticles/calling-all-young-entrepreneurs.aspx

We look forward to unleashing more young entrepreneurs just like Jemma with your help!

Jessica Kiely

Online Resumes...Gone are the days of staples!

Gone are the days of staples, torn paper edges and plastic sleeves. Online Resumes are the future. These are beneficial to both the employer and the candidate as it increases control in the recruitment process. It shortens the anticipation as there is no longer a need to wait weeks, or even days, for applications to be received, collated and examined.

Technology is moving even beyond just e-mailing your resume to a potential employer. There’s now a multitude of websites that specialise in helping you to create your online resume, resulting in more exposure to potential employers for you. This means more chance of you finding that perfect job even faster!

So why use an online resume? One key reason is keywords. Today, employers often scan resumes looking for keywords, and it certainly isn’t one person sitting there reading every resume the company has received. Electronic scanning means that your resume needs to be in electronic form – or chances are you’ll miss out. If you’re applying for a particular job, find out what it is the employer is looking for – and customize your resume!

Creating an online resume means that your personalised resume information is available online. You have two choices – one is to protect your information, meaning it can only be accessed by people that you give a special code to. The other is having your information public, meaning any potential employer could search for your information. Obviously there’s pros and cons to both of these – it’s a matter of privacy versus exposure, and there is no one right answer to this.

An online resume means potential employers are able to search online, through databases created by different websites. For public resumes, this means a higher chance that a potential employer will come across your information. Again, this is where keywords are so important, because potential employers will be searching for particular experience, qualifications or personal characteristics. It’s also possible to create multiple resumes, so if you’re interested in jobs in a few different industries, this is a great chance for you to increase your exposure to different employers, who would be looking for different qualities, qualifications and experience in a candidate.

Here are some tips to ensure your resume is up to date and relevant online;

• List your technical strengths first
• List your qualifications in order of relevance to the position you are applying for
• Don't sell yourself short, include your achievements
• Make sure your resume is credible! (one out of five people lie in their resumes)
• Be concise, try and keep your resume to one or two pages
• Exclude needless items
• Key words are important. Employers search with key words when looking at resumes, what do you want to be recognised as? Dynamic? Then make it a consistent theme throughout your resume.
• Have a trusted friend review your resume, and give their honest opinion
• Proofread your resume before you send or upload it


What format do I put my resume in?

The three main formats used when doing online resume’s are, ASCII Text, HTML and PDF.

How do I convert my resume for these formats?

ASCII - Make up your resume in your word processing software and save the document as “ASCII” text or “text only document” or “Rich Text Format (RTF)”. Put “.txt” after ASCII when you save it. This is the most popular format used online.

HTML- HTML is ‘Hyper Text Markup Language’ used by the web browser to display web content. HTML controls the format, fonts, margins, layouts, colors, tables, links and several other items on the web page. HTML Editors, Microsoft FrontPage can be helpful in developing HTML resumes.

PDF - The Portable Document format is often used as an alternative of HTML. Unlike HTML, it is “embedded” and will not change with different browser settings. However it does require that the viewer has the Adobe Acrobat viewer. Converting a document to PDF format requires the Adobe Acrobat or third party software that can convert various document formats to PDF (such as plug ins for Microsoft Word).


Where can I upload my resume?

There are various employment sites to post your resume. Here are a few you might like to visit.

• iD Logik – www.idlogik.com
• Australian Job Search - www.jobsearch.gov.au (This is currently Australia’s largest employment website)
• ComeOnAussieDotCom - http://www.comeonaussie.com/categories/employment.html
• JobsPLUS – www.jobsplus.com.au

Young Entrepreneurs Stepping Up Program

WANTED: Passionate Young

Entrepreneurs Ready To Grow Their Business

The FRANK Team is excited to announce the YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS STEPPING UP PROGRAM (YESUP), funded and supported by the NSW Department of State and Regional Development. Applications are now open!

The YESUP program focuses on Lifestyle Marketing Systems. As a small business ourselves, we know that there are two key needs to be met for a business to grow: Marketing and the ability to create systems within your business. So we’ve combined these two topics into an amazing new program for young entrepreneurs!

Applications close midnight August 31st, so get in quick - there were 16 places available – now there’s only 12 left! Workshops will take place in Sydney throughout September – November.

APPLY NOW To Be Part Of The YESUP Program!!!

For more info & an application form go to:

www.frankteam.com.au/entrepreneur/marketing-systemise-program.htm

How Does YESUP Work?

YESUP combines skills workshops, one-on-one mentoring and more to produce real and immediate results for you and your business. The workshops are run over six weeks and concentrate on the Lifecycle Marketing System creation for your business. They are presented by Jessica Kiely, the Director of The Frank Team. The one-on-one mentoring is also

run over these six weeks and allows you to work on an area you have identified within your business for some intensive assistance and guidance - all with an experienced and successful business person. More information about these elements is below.

In YESUP, You Will Learn How To:

v Become aware of how to develop systems for all aspects of your business

v Develop a comprehensive Lifecycle Marketing System

v Learn directly from experienced and successful entrepreneurs

v Attract and retain more customers

v Free up your time to work in other areas of your business

v Generate a more reliable income by creating a six to twelve month marketing calendar ready to go

v Track your businesses progress more easily and manage the performance of your marketing

v Make better strategic decisions

v Make it easier to expand and grow your business

v Sell more to existing customers and increase your profits on a regular and consistent basis

Also Included In YESUP:

v A Self-coaching session (Valued at $780) - This will inspire and empower you to drive your business success further by training you to coach yourself through the harder times.

v Networking with other young entrepreneurs who have growing businesses - This will expand your contact list, increase your business knowledge, and introduce you to new potential customers.

v A full ENYA Lawsense workshop (Valued at $750) - To help you avoid legal mistakes and save your business from losing money on legal cases. An ENYA (www.enya.org.au) Business Legal Workshop will be organised for you to attend free of charge at a time convenient to program participants.

v Weekly Inspirational TIPS (Valued at $450) - For ongoing inspiration and motivation to get you through the tough times.

v Regular Mentor Case Studies (Valued at $180) - To ensure you avoid business mistakes and leverage the experience of other successful entrepreneurs.

v LET IT OUT Roundtable (Valued at $350) - You will get other entrepreneurs brains working on and solving your business's problems. Grow your business faster by enlisting the help of other entrepreneurs to supercharge your business and help improve your weaknesses.

v Graduation Ceremony & Certificate - be recognised for your achievement at the YESUP Graduation Ceremony.

If you’re a young entrepreneur between the ages of 18 and 35, running a business in NSW that has been in operation for at least one year, and you are interested in taking part in our skills and mentoring program, contact Lesley on (02) 9966 4333. For more info go to http://www.frankteam.com.au/entrepreneur/marketing-systemise-program.html

APPLY NOW To Be Part Of The YESUP Program!!!

For more info & an application form go to:

www.frankteam.com.au/entrepreneur/marketing-systemise-program.htm

How Much Does YESUP Cost?

YESUP will cost you ONLY $200 (+ GST). But it’s valued at over $4450. Invest a small amount of money for a very large return. This program gives you access to the type of training that

normally costs you thousands of dollars!

If you’ve been in business yourself for at least five years and would like to be involved in the program as a mentor, we’d LOVE to hear from you. Contact Lesley on (02) 9966 4333.

If you know someone who could benefit from participating in this program, please forward this opportunity on to them. We’d love to get a wide range of young entrepreneurs and mentors involved and we need your help!

The workshops are made possible by the NSW Department of State and Regional Development (DSRD) the New South Wales Government's business development agency. DSRD delivers programs and services that support the NSW Government’s commitment to winning new business activity for NSW, and developing the capacity and productivity of the State’s economy. For further information on how DSRD can help your business go to www.business.nsw.gov.au

Dinner Impressions

Getting ahead in your career doesn’t just happen over the boardroom table, it also happens over a lunch or dinner table. Knowing your desert spoon from your bread knife and your napkin etiquette can ensure you make a professional and powerful impression. But where do you learn this stuff these days? No time for a June Daly Watkins course?! Well we have done the research and information gathering for you – so tuck that napkin down your shirt and dig in!

These tips are specific to an Australian cultural context. If you find yourself in a different cultural context then do your homework on expected etiquette to ensure you make the best impression.

THE TIPS:

Off on the Right Foot:

• Be punctual – never more than 10 minutes late. If you are running late, ensure you have let them know you are running late and why.
• If the dinner is at someone’s home it is considered good etiquette to take something along for the host. That could be wine or flowers. And make sure you thank the host when you leave.
• Never start eating before a signal from the host to do so.
• Remember LIQUIDS ON THE RIGHT, SOLIDS ON THE LEFT. So your bread plate will be on your left and your glasses will be on your right. This way you will never eat someone else’s bread again!

Food & Drinks:

• Never, never, never make loud eating noises like slurping, chewing or burping. And that also includes not trying to talk with your mouth full.
• It’s advised not to use bread rolls to dip into soups or to soak up sauces, leave that for at home.
• With soups use your spoon and spoon the soup away from you when you take it out of the bowl and sip it from the side of the spoon.
• When served a bread roll on a bread plate, break the bread apart with your fingers so that it is in pieces small enough for one or two bites. Then butter a pulled apart piece and then eat it. It is not advised that you butter the entire roll at one time.
• Butter should be taken when passed, and placed onto your bread plate, never directly onto your bread.
• When eating meat it is advisable to always cut and eat one small piece at a time.
• It is advised to order food that you will be able to eat with your knife and fork. Finger foods can get messy.
• If food spills off your plate, you may pick it up with one of your utensils and place it on the edge of your plate.
• Never spit a piece of food out! Remove the food from your mouth with the same utensil it went in with. Place the piece of food on the edge of your tongue and put it back onto your utensil and then return it to the edge of your plate.
• Don’t season your food before you have tasted it. This is considered offensive to the chef.
• Make sure you don’t drink too much alcohol during the meal, you want to remain in control and making the best impression. If wine is served with each course, it is quite ok to not finish each glass.
• Managing your eating and drinking. Finish chewing what is in your mouth before you take a drink.
• It is inappropriate to ask for a doggy bag when you are a guest, unless offered of course.

At the Table:

• If what you want on the table is out of reach it is best to ask for the guest closest to it to pass it to you, rather than you reaching over people. If you absolutely must then a polite “Excuse me” as you reach is always appreciated.
• Always create and make fun, interesting and ongoing conversation with those guests around you.
• Grooming at the table is a no. That is brushing your hair, applying lipstick or picking teeth (unless toothpicks have been provided). Excuse yourself and do those things in the bathroom.
• Sit up straight in your chair at the table. It makes a good impression.
• When you are not eating, keep your hands on your lap or resting on the table with your wrists on the edge of the table. Elbows on the table are acceptable only between courses, not while you and others are eating.

Napkins:

• When you arrive unfold your napkin, or wait for it to be unfolded for you by restaurant staff, and place it on your lap. With large napkins then fold it in half before putting it onto your lap.
• Use you napkin to wipe your fingers and lips.
• Use your napkin before drinking from a glass or cup.
• When you have finished your meal leave your napkin tidily on the middle of your place setting, if your crockery has been cleared. If it has not been cleared, leave it to the left of your plate.
• Never use your napkin as a handkerchief, unless absolutely necessary. If you sneeze, excuse yourself and go to the bathroom to blow your nose.
• Place your napkin on your chair when excusing yourself during the meal
• Never leave or place your napkin onto your plate.

Utensils:

• Desserts can be eaten with both a spoon and fork, or just a fork alone.
• Forks should not be turned over (so they are like a spade) unless being used to eat peas, rice or other similar foods. In this case you should transfer the fork to your right hand and use it.
• It is quite acceptable at a BBQ to eat with just a fork.
• If one of your utensils falls on the floor, pick it up and then let your server know you dropped it and ask for a clean one.
• Never use a knife or utensil to point at someone. Always place them down when using your hands.
• If you arrive and there is a lot of utensils and you are not sure what is for what, follow the rule of outside in toward the plate.

Some Oldies but Goodies:

• Never out dress the host/ess.
• If you want to bring a guest, always ask the host first and confirm with them.
• Hold the knife and fork with the handles in the palm of the hand, forefinger on top, and thumb underneath. Rest your knife and fork on either side of the plate between mouthfuls. When finished place them side by side in the centre of your plate.

From http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/Lifestyle/proper_table_manners.htm

iDlogik - Online Resumes

I recently found this site – iDlogik.com and thought wow this is cool. Then I found out it was Australian and a new start up by an Aussie entrepreneur – I had to learn more.

I caught up with founder of iDlogik Michael Costin – here is what he had to say…..

Where did the idea for iDlogik come from?

iDlogik came about from a simple idea to develop an innovative and dynamic online resume builder to help jobseekers with resume creation and storage. The concept continued to evolve, and as a result, jobseekers now not only build an online resume with iDlogik, they get to create and manage their entire online career portfolio with which to maximize their full career potential.

With an iDlogik account, Jobseekers can write and store cover letters, verify key career milestones, manage references, upload important documents, apply for jobs, and even elect to have their resumes searchable online by the top employers and recruiters in town… ensuring that they never miss out on any great opportunities.

What have been the challenges in starting up an online business?

It’s been a huge effort over the past 2 years to get iDlogik up and running. The main challenges have been in the development of our exciting ideas into actual web products. The relationship between the IT and R&D sides of the business have been strained at times but we are all really proud to have finally launched a truly innovative online product.

What is your ultimate vision for your business?

iDlogik’s ultimate vision is to create the worlds leading online space, where jobseekers can create and manage their entire career portfolios from the one online location, in effect creating the world’s first independent resume board. The result will be an environment where jobseekers can achieve their full career potential by taking a more proactive role in promoting their resumes and career experience to recruiters and employers.

Each day what are the things you do that you LOVE and things that you do each day that you DISLIKE but just have to do?

The best thing about this job is that every day is different. We work with a wide-range of people from jobseekers, students and career advisors to employers and recruiters. All have an active interest in the iDlogik brand so it’s never a dull moment meeting new users and watching the business grow. Dislikes are few and far between but like any job there are niggling little tasks that just have to be done, but the good times definitely outnumber the bad.

So go and set up your online resume now at www.idlogik.com

Here at The Frank Team know how valuable and cool this online resume idea is. We do career success presentations all over Australia to young people and young professionals and think the iDlogik idea is awesome and we can’t wait to spread the word!

And stay tuned - this has just given me a great idea! Next blog post will help you learn all about HOW TO CREATE A KILLER ONLINE RESUME!

Focus on ONE Thing at A Time

So you think you can MULTI-TASK? Talk on the phone, write an email, switch songs on your ipod, and contribute good ideas to the conversations, all at the same time?
Well, we all try and do it of course but new research has shown some interesting results about true focus.
A study by Uni of California found that distracted individuals (ie: multi-taskers) store information in a part of the brain that is different than that of the more focussed learners. And the result is they can't recall the information as easily, as the focussed learners.
Plus Uni of Michigan researchers believe multi-tasking is flooding our bodies with stress hormones and adrenaline which can lead to long-term health problems. (Source BRW Sept 3, 08)
Just one thing left to do then........ONE THING AT A TIME! Yes truly focus on one thing at a time and do it really well.
However, I also believe in good use of that time - so even though you may focus on one thing at a time you can have a few of those one things going at the one time. So you can get dinner started by putting the water on to boil, then put a load of washing on while you wait for it to boil, and then write a blog post from the notes you made on the train on the way home, and then chop up the vegies, then find a good podcast to listen to while having your dinner.......and so on! But each time you focus on that one activity to ensure you do it really well.
Same works at work!
When you are focussing on your task delete as many of the distractions that may hinder that focus. Turn off the MSN thing that has you know when your friends have come online, don't have the little envelope come up in your toolbar when you have email (so you are not tempted mid-blog post to go and check that one or two emails that may have come in that are not important really!.....yes I resisted!)......and just focus. You will do it faster and better!
So bring on the multi-tasking but one task at a time.