Posts Tagged collateral
Searching for a job or investor? Step 2: Develop Collateral Part 1
Posted by Steve in For Job Seekers on April 9, 2009
Writing the Resume
Preparations for the job or investor search are similar. At some point you will be asked for your collateral: resume, some form of communication (cover letter) and business cards.
The resume can be a problem if you make it one.
Everyone you meet will have an opinion: 1 page, 2 pages, as many pages as needed, 10 years back, 5 years back, funky layout, strict layout. More whitespace…less whitespace. It can and will drive you crazy. They will state that opinion as if it gospel and make you feel that if you do not follow it you will fail.
An investor needs your resume so as to quickly know whether or not you are qualified for the position you currently hold. Can you lead? What have been your past successes? What are your skills that bring victory?
The biggest difference between job search resumes and resumes for investors is this: most resumes for the job search weed you out. Investors usually want to meet you first, and thus the resume qualifies who they know you are already.
However, you can have one set of resumes that supports you in both areas. Yesterday I briefly mentioned John Lucht’s book, Rites of Passage at $100,000 to $1 Million+. It talks about the comprehensive executive resume. However, the book stipulates that every element on the resume should talk about a success.
Be careful, as the executive resume stated by the book may be too long.
From my experience writing and reviewing resumes here is what I found works:
- Have three versions of your resume. A full length, multiple page version. A two page version, and a one page version. Always lead with the two page version. If they want something more or less, you are prepared. The only exception is if you have less than five years work experience or just out of college. In that case, you should only have a one page version.
- Have a Text Version. This means that if the investor or hiring person needs you to fill it into a box on a web site, then you can do so. When it prints it will print out in a good format and the person will not need to reformat to read it. They will appreciate you. Read Rites of Passage, it explains this a bit more.
- Do not list career objectives. Is your objective to do something other than the job you are applying for? No? Then, why is it there. Your objective is to get the job and exceed the expectations of your hiring manager/investor. Everything about the resume should scream what you can do for the company.
- Use a summary section, and as per the Rites of Passage book, be objective. Do know fill it with subjective adjectives like, “Excellent”, “Superb”, “World-Class” unless you won an award that has that in the title. Be objective and let your achievements stand out.
- At most, have one or two lines about the job description.
- All other bullet points on the job should be about successes and what you achieved for the company.
- Write for your audience. If they say you should list skills, then do so. If they want a one page resume, then do one. The point is that you deliver to your customer’s needs (or perceived needs).
All the other pointers on writing resumes such as font size, layout, white space, skill listing, placement of education, awards, depends on the industry, your preferences, and what the thousands of other books and articles on resumes say you should do.
One more thing, have a short bio about yourself. The bio should speak of your strengths and experience that applies for the company. The bio and full resume should go into an appendix in the business plan.
Searching for a job or investor? Step 1: Research
Posted by Steve in For Job Seekers on April 8, 2009
The preparation for a job search is similar for the preparation for a startup idea search and presenting it to an investor. Some people try to do both: find a job, or find a startup. There are ways to combine the two and that is the point of this next series of articles.
How do you combine the two, but also present the right information to the right audience.
The preparation steps are:
1. Research
2. Develop collateral
a. Resume
b. Cover letter
c. Business cards
3. Advertise and network online
4. Advertise and network locally (in person)
5. Develop more marketing materials
a. Special projects
b. Website
c. Blog
The first step is to do some basic background research to know where to start and how to put together a plan. I found three job search books that are most helpful to both a job search and preparing yourself for the investor:
Book 1: Rites of Passage at $100,000 to $1 Million+: Your Insider’s Lifetime Guide to Executive Job-Changing and Faster Career Progress in the 21st Century by John Lucht, ISBN: 978-0942785302
The book covers the whole gamut of job hunting for the executive. It talks about how to create the resume, identify whether someone is the right type of recruiter, how to communicate with other executives and in general, how to present yourself as the executive they need to hire.
Fairly obvious then why it would be a great book for someone trying to start a new company and get investors. The investors need to see that the person is the right executive for the job.
Book 2: 60 Seconds and You’re Hired! by Robin Ryan ISBN: 978-0143112907
This book covers how to make a positive first impression and leave the person with the right impression. Basically, it says that you identify the three to five key strengths that person needs to have in someone to do the job; and you repeat that theme several times as you answer their questions. The book also includes other sales techniques and typical interview questions.
This book is integral in the conversation that follows the pitch. What are your five top qualities? What are the five top qualities of the business that the investor needs to hear?
Book 3: Any Interview Question book. One example is: Boost Your Interview IQ by Carole Martin, ISBN 978-0071425476.
I like this book because not only does it give sample questions, but sample answers and what they mean.
There are no Q&A books for investors asking entrepreneurs questions. However, if you are an investor or really want to do some intense strategy look at these two books:
- Boost Your Hiring IQ by Carole Martin, ISBN 978-0071477017.
- 96 Great Interview Questions to Ask Before You Hire by Paul Falcone, ISBN: 978-0814413517
Both these books present it from the hiring point of view. What are the right questions to ask and how, and what do the answers typically mean. This is a great book for investors trying to get in the heads of their prospective entrepreneurs. Just like you would hire a CEO or senior manager, an investor needs to consider the person receiving their investment.
To the job seeker/entrepreneur: Investors and hiring managers are going to ask many questions. As they get beyond the basic questions they will start to find out about your management style, your decision making process and what makes you tick. They might ask you tough questions like, “So, why did you get fired?” when you did not say that you were fired. Practice the questions and answers to give you a strategy and the ability to stay calm under pressure.
These resources help you prepare yourself for the “inquisition”. Whether you are a job seeker talking to large companies and starups, or a startup trying to find investment, you can prepare for the “interview” in a similar way.
Keeping your branding package within budget
This should also be titled, when DIY (Do-it-yourself) comes in handy.
When it comes to creating the intial collateral package are seven things a typical business needs:
- Branding
- Color scheme for collateral
- Logo
- Presentation template (for PowerPoint, reports, and proposals)
- Web site (everyone needs one today)
- Business cards (everyone needs one today)
- Bio photo
From the investor point of view, if you look professional and very, very simple then you are probably spending your money wisely. There is one caveat: this only works if you are in the initial stages. If you say you have been around for a while, selling a lot of product, but your marketing looks like it was done on a low budget, the investor will still wonder about the credibility.
There is nothing wrong with telling the investor that part of the budget will go to improving the brand image.
In the meantime, how does one approach this?
Web site: look for a prepackaged site that you can fill in elements. These are called templates, and you can get one for under $100.00. You may be able to hire a small firm that can use one of these sites and fill in the elements for you. The prepackaged site should even suggest the typography. The colors used on this package will lead to…
Color scheme for collateral: Use the web site colors.
Business cards: You can use the web site colors, but the problem is to lay it out on a small piece of paper. Instead, use simple black and white and put it together on decent card stock. Definitely use a company like overnightprints.com or Vistaprint.com. They will also have templates for the business cards. Word of advice: two fonts. Use one for text and one fancy font for the company name or logo. Once again, if you are not a professional designer, keep it simple to keep it good.
Presentation template: use the website colors, and a very simple layout. For presentations you can use the templates in PowerPoint. They look good and get the point across without become the point.
Branding: One of the first elements of branding is to be consistent. By using the same color schemes, fonts, themes through the collateral you will develop a brand for your business. It is very basic but consistency works.
Bio photo: In the beginning, unless you are entertainment, this is not that important. You could go to one of those photo places and see if they can take a portrait photo and then provide you a color corrected web and print version. If all they do is provide a portrait photo then do that. A good portrait photo goes a long way. Avoid being too sexy like in a Glamour Shots photograph. You want to look professional.
Logo: Entrepreneurs love to play with this all the time and it can often really hurt them. The simplest logo is either a graphic of the letters of your business name, an image of the name of your business (if it is a noun), or an image that represents the activity that your business performs. Start with the letters as that is the simplest.
Cash considerations are important. When you cannot afford to hire a professional, do not try to be that professional. Instead, use common sense and keep things simple. Find simple solutions and they will work. These can be used to sell your products and services. Investors want to see that money and time is spent wisely and produces results. When you do this, you are much more credible to investors (and potential customers).
When DIY may be detrimental
Yesterday, I wrote about how sometimes do-it-yourself is detrimental. I referred to Seth Godin’s blog post that you should go out there and be your own graphic designer. He wrote about four common areas. I argued against it, and today, I am going to add three more areas that people often DIY and why it can be a problem. All three areas are related to the development of the brand:Branding: What is your brand and how do you present it? There are many self-help books out there that can make you very educated on brand; however, this is often painful trial and error. However, the essense of most businesses is their marketing, and the essence of marketing is developing a brand and selling that brand. If you are going to spend time learning something, then this would be it.
Hiring an expert for a couple of hours to give you a brand checkup would be ideal. Unfortunately, it is hard to get them to just stick to a couple of hours. Maybe I should address that in another post?
Look and feel: This is an element of the brand, but is specifically the physical aspects of the brand. What is the color scheme and layout that would best represent you? How can you have a consistent scheme between all your collateral that says you know what you are doing? What does the packaging look like? Good graphic designers and artists understand color theory: what colors work together and what emotions the colors represent. Every heard the saying, “I don’t know why I don’t like it, I just don’t?” That is what happens when someone looks at a bad color scheme.
Logo: Every business needs a decent logo design. Many people try these themselves and just miss the boat. If you can afford it, get a professional to help you. This can be really expensive, but worth it. Why is it hard? The best logos are often the simplest, and many times, someone from outside the business, thinking outside of the box can identify the simplest and coolest logo.
I do agree with him that some research is necessary to develop skills. For example, if presenting material on a website is going to be integral then you should learn a little bit about web design and typography.
Branding, Color scheme and logo are more advanced than presentations, web sites, business cards, and bio photos. However, if developed together, a designer could come up with a common theme that can be used on all collateral. This usually saves money and time; and often lends more credibility when getting customers. However, even the designer needs guidance. This is where research into branding comes in handy and where hiring an expert to guide you (tutor you) would be money well spent.
What about those that are very cash poor and are trying to attract investors? How do you avoid spending too much? That is for tomorrow…
Professional vs. DIY
Professionals are called professionals for two reasons. First, they do the job better than most people. Second, other people call them professionals and pay them because of the first reason.
Many people will tell you to “save money” and “do it yourself”. In some instances, this is very sound advice; especially when you have no cash. However, it is often taken too far and becomes counter-productive by destroying credibility and turning away the target audience. The end result looks amateurish and buyers (customers and investors) walk away.
Today, I read on Seth Godin’s blog (see the CONNECTIONS section) his article titled: Why aren’t you (really) good at graphic design?
His premise is this: Today, business professionals are expected to have professional looking presentations and collateral. However, because of today’s “easy” software, instead of hiring someone you can do it yourself. You will not be as good as a professional but you will be “really good” and that is good enough.
I have seen “really good” and usually it is not good enough. The problem with “really good” is that it is purely subjective and often based on the other idea, “I just do not want to spend the cash.” Standards and expectations are lowered by the business owners. The problem is that customers do not lower them and expect professional. The customers go elsewhere.
When I was the marketing director of an animation festival and executive producer for a startup animation studio we saw many portfolios, many artists and graphic designers. There is a big difference between DIY and professional. There are many levels of professional and wide range of prices.
Maybe you cannot afford world-class, but maybe you can afford something. You need to make the right decisions on when to DIY and when to find a qualified person within your budget. When you approach a professional, tell them what you want and your budget. Don’t hide the budget but figure out what you would pay for what you want. If it is not enough, they will tell you. In my expereicne, if the designer does not have a budget they will usually overbid. You keep it under budget by giving them a budget.
Godin identifies the four big things people try to DIY and suggest you can too: PowerPoint presentations, web sites, business cards, and bio photos. It is just not that easy to do all four. Here is my response:
Presentations in Power-Point: Absolutely DIY. Why? The best ones today are simple with no animation. They just look good. You could hire someone to develop a color template and then use that template over and over. This would be branding development (see tomorrow’s post).
Web site: If it is very simple and you are satisfied with out of the box, then by all means go DIY. Otherwise, hire someone with talent. Amateur sites look that way. There is a lot more to it than meets the eye. If your business depends on look and presentation, then you have to spend the time and money on a web site.
Business Cards: If you do a simple black and white design or use one of the online pre-designed cards, then DIY. Otherwise, hire a designer. When it comes to printing them, save yourself a lot of time and trouble and just get them printed. At overnightprints.com you can get 100 double sided color cards (standard size) for $14.95. You can get 1000 for $49.95. It is worth it. If you print them and cut them yourself it will look amateurish. $50 is a sushi dinner for two. Skip one of those and get business cards.
Bio photo: Anyone can take a photograph. Having someone take a good photograph and then knowing how to color correct them well for presenting on the web and in print (which are different from each other) is another story. You could probably take a lot of decent pictures of yourself. It is a challenge for me. If you can take the time to figure out to color correct it then do it; otherwise ask a professional.
Godin missed a few more items that many people also DIY which maybe they should not. I will write more on that topic tomorrow.