The Pumpkin Plan by Mike Michalowicz

Review of an Advanced Reader Copy by Lisa Rangel

Earlier this quarter, I received an advanced reader copy of The Pumpkin Plan, Mike Michalowicz’s latest book that is out on July 5^th. I was excited to read it after learning quite a bit from his previous book, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur. I found The Pumpkin Plan came at the right time for me and does not disappoint for jobseekers looking to become an entrepreneur, the fledgling entrepreneur or the semi-successful entrepreneur that wants to take things to the next level.

In the first chapters of The Pumpkin, Mike describes the hard working entrepreneur, who after years of working so hard, looks tired, beat-up and  is just far enough ahead to stay afloat. This poor soul is  making money (however, in some cases, may not be) executing all aspects of the business, sales, marketing, fulfillment, accounting, etc, and saying yes to almost any client who wants to hire him. His business revolves around him, and without him would be nothing. This can happen to someone in business for years or even just a couple of years, Mike states.

I resonated with this book right away, as a sole proprietor in business going on three years. I felt, while blessed on many levels, things have grown where I have reached a point that I cannot execute everything all the time and make everyone happy.  I needed help and direction to structure my business to still cater to my core market and earn a sustainable living that would continue well beyond me. Here are the suggestions Mike makes to fine tune your business (and job seekers, take notice this list can help bring more action from a job search):

(1)    Define the characteristics of your ideal client and target market benefiting from your business.

(2)    Ask the ideal client target what services of yours they want and do not want. Learn about what helps them make a decision to buy.

(3)    Structure execution processes within your business around those needs and likes of your client. Set up systems and staff to service those needs likes/needs  that enable you to deliver above their expectations consistently.

I learned from The Pumpkin Plan that to grow the business further, I need to say ‘no’ to the client prospects that are not within my target market and extract myself from the execution process of the business focusing on the strategy. For this do-it-yourselfer entrepreneur, that sometimes seems counter-intuitive: to grow I have to do less of the business myself and say no to prospects? But I have started to these steps over the past month and a half and I can already see an increase in productivity and a decrease in my stress levels. Profitability in the short term has not been affected and I am positive good change is coming resulting from these practices.

For the job seeker, the spray and pray method of find a job by saying yes to every interview and sending your resume everywhere there is a ‘send’ button on the web, is not effective. Fine tune the job search company target list and craft correspondence to people (not submit to job boards) to gain a human response to move your job search forward. There are many practical analogies a job seeker can gather from this book, as well.

The Pumpkin Plan is a highly tactical, small business growth resources that can help entrepreneurs with product or service businesses grow their business by learning how to work on their business and not only in their business.

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Consulting, Temporary, Freelance, or Contract Work—these terms can mean different things to different people. While each word can conjure an impression of a different level of employee with various employment arrangements (Contract/Consulting work can imply higher skill level and longer term assignments; Temporary work can mean seasonal, short-term, lower skill level jobs; and Freelance work brings about the image of a free spirit creative soul floating from one inventive endeavor to another), these terms meant the same thing to me when I was a recruiter:  the work was interim and the employee was not a direct hire employee of the firm.  For the sake of this article, these four terms will be used interchangeably, but I acknowledge each can be defined differently by various organizations and people.

So why should job seekers consider this type of work?  The main reason is because employers of all types are employing this way of hiring talent as part of their year-round staffing strategy.  The chances are the job function you perform is now being classified as a consulting or temporary job within that organization.  If you don’t consider positions in this classification, you may miss out on a number of great opportunities.

Why would an employer make a previously direct hire position now a contract job? Here are some of the benefits experienced by an employer when they hire a contract employee. By knowing these reasons, you can devise a strategy as to how and why a company should hire your skills set as a contractor increasing your chances of being hired: (more…)

This time of year brings about that need to take inventory of what you did and where you want to go in the next year. Notice I did not say we need to take note of what we did not do. Focus on the positive. Focus on what you did accomplish in your career.

Be grateful and content. It is in the contentment and acceptance of where we are that allows us to have a foundation to build the dreams of where we want to go in the next year.

Use this time to REFLECT and not REGRET.

Then DESIGN your plan to ADVANCE your career.

Let’s close out 2011 and get revved up for 2012. Join me in doing this exercise: (more…)

I attended the Career Directors International Summit led by Laura DeCarlo (@careerhero) this past week held in the colorful Savannah, Georgia. What a week it was! The general theme validated for me was that having a self-made or professionally done resume is not the sole magic elixir to landing your next job. It is a component, not the only step needed to be taken.

So what else is needed, you ask?  Job seekers today need to approach their search with the hiring manager’s mind set in hand. It is no mistake that this year’s conference featured Martin Yates, the author of the highly successful Knock ‘Em Dead career books and former recruiter, and Shally Steckerl, the sourcing and recruiting industry rockstar. These two gentleman punctuated job seekers need to think creatively when approaching and being discovered by hiring decision makers.  Here are a few ways how:  (more…)

Mike Michalowicz and Lisa Rangel

In July 2011 I attended the B.I.G. Summer Summit, where Mike Michalowicz, author, entrepreneur & marketing expert, was the engaging keynote speaker. He graciously gave the attendees a copy of his book, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur: the-tell-it-like-it-is guide to cleaning up in business, even if you are at the end of your roll, under the premise that we all pay it forward investing the cost of the book with someone or an entity that needs it. I was already intrigued.

While I already donated my $20 to a worthy cause, I am eager to continue the good karma put forth by Mike by telling you how this book can help the job seeker.  (Hey Mike—I am feeling the birth of the Toilet Paper Job Seeker Book initiative—as least I think that is what I am feeling).

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(1) Go into a new field without major research
(2) Send the same thank you note to all interviewers
(3) Think they have to have 100% clarity as to what they want before they start to look
(4) Only submit to job postings and never reach out to people at companies directly
(5) Assume the tactics that worked for their job search three years ago will work for them now (more…)

Your head tells you, “No one is hiring.” I am here to tell you that it is not true –I have had two clients land and start positions in December. This is actually the time we get to have fun with this process! The holidays can present many leads to pursue and an abundance of opportunities to expand your network. Whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, here are practices you can do to make job searching and holiday networking easier for you during this season: (more…)

Creating a social media profile is a business necessity in today’s job search marketplace. We are not only talking about Linkedin, but also Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, and other niche sites. According to the most recent issue of HR Magazine issued by The Society of Human Resources Management, 78% of companies are using LinkedIn for recruiting, 54% are using Facebook, 44% are using Twitter and 18% are using blog searches. There were even some cited as using YouTube and MySpace for recruiting. So why is this important? Bottom line is if you are doing a job search and you are not on most of these mediums, you will be at a serious disadvantage in landing your next role. Here are four reasons why: (more…)

“Congrats on getting bounced. A pretty awesome group of people get bounced nowadays, so you are in good company … “

This is an actual email response I sent to a friend a few months ago when he was laid off. So, if this happened to you–as it did to me–I say to you, “Congratulations!” Some of us have juicy stories and others are more mundane. Regardless of your story, being unemployed or underemployed in this market does not carry The Scarlet Letter stigma it once did. It has become a prevalent part of our lives, headlines and conversations. And make no mistake, it is an opportunity. However, before I pontificate with the “the world is your oyster” speech and tell you how thankful I am that it happened to me, let me tell you my story. (more…)

Yes, I landed what I would call an interview a couple of weeks ago without looking for a job or to work for an outside company. How did it happen? I was reading a blog post from a fellow career services professional who runs a group at a large career management firm. This person made a great point in how successful job seekers at all levels (in their particular case they cater to the executive job seeker) are repackaging their skill sets to reinvent themselves within their existing profession or an entirely new profession. (more…)