Find a Great Career As a Print Broker

Good print brokers are more important than ever in the printing industry. Although it may seem as if companies have focused entirely on their web presence, e-mail, and online marketing, printed materials are still critical to the success of any business. Whether they are ordering business cards, fliers, brochures, or pamphlets, successful marketers know that professional print material can add a unique touch to your information and branding. That’s where a knowledgeable, reliable print broker comes into the picture.

An organization may choose to deal directly with a printer for these jobs; however, a printing broker effectively uses their knowledge base, sales and marketing skills in order to produce the printed material in a cost effective way. The broker makes a profit by marking up the printers costs. Many brokers open their own companies after years in the printing business, as industry knowledge is crucial to the individual’s expertise. If you have decided to work in the wholesale printing field, there are several steps you must take.

Find Your Niche

The wholesale printing industry is huge, so you may want to find an area of specialization for your brokerage. You may decide to print business cards, labels, envelopes, letterhead, and other office supplies that are used by almost any company. You may even want to expand into brokering printed packaging for company’s products in order to round out your business offerings.

Build Your Printer List

A broker soon learns that depending on a single company for printing may be a bad business choice. Find companies in your area with good reputations for service, quality, and price. Ask to see work samples of the products you will need, in addition to paper and print samples. Ask for lists of their equipment and find out how their services are different from their competitors. Lead times are also important for any job. Once you have contacted several printers, compare their prices and estimated lead times to find several printers with which you will work. Working with the best, more reliable companies will help your customer list continue to grow, and that’s something no broker can do without.

Find Your Clients

Do you have some potential clients in mind? It’s always a good idea to start a brokerage if you have a few people you can rely upon to help you get started. Even if they’re a family member, their work can be added to your portfolio. There are several steps you should take for any client. When visiting a potential customer, you must learn about their business needs and what they will expect of your company. Find out the pros and cons of their current print suppliers. The best way to find a new client is to find a company that is unhappy with their current printing suppliers. Let’s say that Perky Printers, Inc. is charging too much for a company’s corporate brochures, but you know that your source can provide an equal or better product for a lower price. This gives you the information and ability to solve the customer’s problem, and that’s what a printing broker’s job is all about. People who work in this profession aren’t just looking to make money; they really want to help people get the best products their money can buy!

Keep Track of Your Production

Another important trait to a print broker is the willingness to track your product. If you want to just drop off an order and forget about it until the day it’s due, this may not be the field for you. Once you receive a company’s order, choose your wholesale printing company to fulfill the order. Be sure to monitor the job’s progress using the printer’s projected deadline. If you check periodically on your job, you can alert the customer if any issues or delays occur. Attention to detail is the hallmark of a great broker.

Deliver Quality, Timely Products

Print brokers go into every job with the knowledge that they were probably given the contract because the company was unhappy with their former printing company. You don’t want to be thought of as “That Company,” so make sure your products is up to their expectations and delivered on time. To be successful in the printing broker business, you must be reliable, above all else.

Scout New Suppliers

You must be willing to go out and find new suppliers on a regular basis. Printing technologies, capabilities, and requirements are constantly changing, which means you should constantly explore new printing suppliers. Keep up with a few industry trade journals and take the time to visit some trade shows. If you are looking for new suppliers or specialty producers, conduct some online research to find the companies that fit all your printing needs. New businesses are always popping up, and a printing broker needs to take advantage of the best of the best.

Scout New Business

A broker in the printing industry must excel at recruiting new clients, so that means you must be ready for sales plans and cold calling. Practice your sales technique on friends and family members, and take their constructive criticism in order to perfect your spiel.

Once your sales have improved, you’ll be able to delegate some of the hard work. You will hopefully be able to hire an assistant who can answer phones, monitor your jobs, prepare quotes, and cover customer service. Your long-term success depends on continuously finding new clients and making contacts to help your company grow and thrive.

When you decide to start your own print a brokerage business, you are dedicating yourself to finding your customers great deals on quality products. If you are reliable, love sales, and have great communication skills, you can be a success story in the wholesale printing industry.

Expert Federal Resume Writing Help – Certified Professional Career Help and Assistance

Expert Federal Resume Writing Help – Certified Professional Federal Resume Writing Service

The federal resume is one of the hardest documents you will ever prepare. It is a time-intensive, labor of love that requires dedication, advanced grammar and editing skills, and the ability to draft a 2-4 page document about yourself. That doesn’t sound hard to you? Okay, try sitting down and describing your current life in a paragraph. Now, do that 2- 8 times over with respect to each job position and life experience you have had and then maybe you will see my point.

Unfortunately, even though the Obama administration got rid of the KSAs, the federal resume still looms. And, don’t be fooled by the fact that the government has done away with KSAs – that is not the case. Rather, the only difference is that now many of the agencies require that the KSAs be integrated into your current resume. How’s that for difficult – Basically the KSA is still a requirement for almost every government agency, only they are requiring that it be included in your resume, as opposed to submitted in a separate document.

What can you do to try to ease the pain of creating a federal resume – here are a few tips from a 10th year nationally certified resume writer who has served as a federal resume writer to several of the web’s top resume writing companies.

1. Brainstorm: When you apply for Federal and Government positions, they are sticklers for accuracy. Saying you started a position in 2010 is not enough – they want dates, including months and years. And, once you are on the interview and request that you complete a job application, they will require even more specific dates such as the exact date you started and ended the position. Therefore, take some time and think of each position you’ve had, the title, the supervisor, the months/years, and whether you will agree to let the potential employer contact your old employer.

2. Outline: Just as if you were back in high school or college, the key to any great essay is the ability to gather, organize, and execute your thoughts. Therefore, the first step in actually drafting the resume is for you to outline a job description that adequately describes each position you have had for the last 15-years.

3. Fine Tune the Outline: The next step should be taking the information and turning it into a story. Unlike a civilian resume, which is the equivalent of telling a story, a federal resume is the equivalent of writing a really, really boring story. It is important that you detail everything you did, but not overstate it. This is because with federal jobs, they WILL check your references, and WILL check you confirm that you actually completed what you said you did. (Not that you should ever lie in a civilian resume).

4. Give up and Hire a Resume Writer: Make SURE you have an EFFECTIVE FEDERAL RESUME: Government resumes generally will require the help of a professional resume writer. This is because the format is entirely different, the verbiage is more straightforward without being repetitive, and the content is much more dense. In addition, the job descriptions are much more detailed and in paragraph form. For the best results, do yourself a favor and hire Certified Professional Resume Writer with a strong background in creating Federal Resumes.

GOOD LUCK!

Nonprofit Grant Writing: Grab a Career, Seize Your Success

Do you have the skills to express your ideas and write them in a clear and concise manner? Do you have the ability to think critically and systematically in evaluating certain plans of actions? Can you do extensive researches about business and other related concern? Do you have sufficient communication skills and knack to influence and convince other people? If you answered all of these questions with a proud “yes”, then you may want to explore the realm of grant writing and be engaged with the benefits it can offer to you as your career.

As an emerging trend in the business world, nonprofit grant writing has meaningfully turned to be an advanced tool for many organizations and individuals, especially the nonprofit ones, in generating funds for their existing or future projects. Not-for-profit corporations used to hire skilled writers who can act in accordance with their need to have an effective and powerful proposal; thus, producing a surprising increase in the demands for expert writers. The question now arises: what really are the benefits one can obtain from being a writer?

Since the time grant writing has become in-demand, job opportunities for freelance and professional writers have been opening, allowing them to grasp the chance of pursuing a career in this field. Through that, they are able to work with a number of organizations that wish to seek for a certain kind of service, and then make a significant contribution to their success. Such can be an essential way for one to establish a good and upright image as a writer and be able to get respect from others. Having grant writing as a vocation can allow an individual to have a more flexible and manageable time schedule. Clearly, this can be one of the best advantages writers have, especially if they are used in setting their own schedule, since they can actually spend as much or as little time as they want and as the work requires so. In fact, this work can be done in a home-based setting.

In nonprofit grant writing, another advantage is, of course, the money or income one can generate from his or her work. Usually, one’s earning varies depending on the mode of employment. A freelance writer is typically paid in a project-basis or hourly-basis mode. Rates range from $1,000 to $10,000 per project, determined oftentimes by the difficulty of the project and the length of subscription, as for hourly basis, charges ordinarily vary from $25 to $100 per hour. Based on the most recent data available, the average estimated salary for a technical proposal writer in the U.S. is $55,000 in a year, while professionals bearing title as grant writers receive $44,000 median annual income.

A proposal writer can entirely integrate his or her own specializations in this career. In making persuasive submissions, one can fully apply his technical skills, creative mind power, and extensive research aptitudes he or she has in order to come up with an effective one. Doing proposals serves also as an opportunity for one to broaden his or her knowledge on the funding and business world. Apparently, this will allow the writers to expand their experiences in this area – a competitive edge that almost everyone aims to have in order to attain success.

Fascinated enough? Well, if you have all the necessary skills needed to be a successful proposal writer, then a writing career may be suitable for you. Thus, as early as now, employ some extra effort to develop your writing and communication skills, planning and budgeting skills, and be geared with passion in this line of work. You may want also to enroll in grant writing courses. Or if you think you can immediately start with your professional experience, then, it will still be your choice.

So now, are you going to grab a more practical career on nonprofit grant writing and seize for a more attainable success?

Your Professional Growth and Type of Blocks in Career Path – Which Block Are You?

Introduction

Though I belong to northern part of India but in my professional life, for maximum number of years I have worked in southern and western parts of the country. It is only now, since 2005 that I shifted my base to northern India . Sometimes, people ask me the difference that I noticed in terms of work-culture, workplace environment and practices in northern and other parts of the country, during my professional journey. Usually my reply to those queries is: “People in western and southern parts of India compete for success and growth. They have constructive and positive approach. They value their and other’s time. Where as, in northern parts of India , people love to grow at the cost of others…by harming others. They have political mindset. They have destructive mindsets.

In western and southern India , the attitude is, “Lets grow together. You don’t harm me and I will not harm you; you have your own strengths and I have mine, we will grow together”. But in other part of the country, people want to be in lime-light. The philosophy is, “Only, I will grow. You, either perish or live in my shadow”.” This is the general attitude, perception and behavior of people. However, exceptions are always there.

Growing together – The Importance of Team Work

How good are you, when it comes to team-work? Do you understand the importance and synergy of team-work? To my knowledge, “We Indians” are very bad players of team-work. Each member of the team wants to hog the lime-light, wants to take the credit for the “Success” of the team and “Love to Blame” his team-member for the failure of his team. Be it any team; as small as a team of two members or as big as a team of fifteen members, we have always failed as a team. Hard to digest but this is a fact. Some of the factors our failures as a team are:

1) Personal Ego (Larger than life ego)

2) Its only “me” and no one else

3) Lack of knowledge (Subject Matter Expertise), Confidence and Self-Belief gives rise to self-doubt and “insecurity”.

4) They love to “Demand Respect” rather than earning respect.

When you have ego, arrogance and insecurity, you tend to block others’ success. You tend to harm them. You tend to play “Political Games” with your own team-members.

Team-work in Corporate World

Now, let me narrow my write-up to “Team-work in Corporate World” and “Team-work within a department”. You cannot do all the work that is expected from you and hence, there is a need of a team. “Delegating your Work”; Outsourcing; Vendor Management is nothing but steps towards “Team Work”. We talk about man-hours and man-hands. For example, I as an individual is capable of doing X work in seven days but along with my team of three people, I should be able to complete the task in three days.

But it’s not me who has done that work in three days; it’s my TEAM. Many times, knowingly or unknowingly we harm our own team. In the process of showing others “my control over my team”, people hurt the team, insult the team and thereby affect the morale and sprit of the team. There is a saying, “Don’t kill the hen laying golden eggs”; but some people divide the team because they feel insecure. They divide the team. They back-stab their own team members; they gossip about one member to another and they insult their team-members in front of others. They do all this because, they don’t have subject matter expertise, and they are not sure about their position. They don’t have self-confidence and self-belief. They feel that the only way that they can survive is by using the old tactic of British India , “Divide and Rule”. Just like the British rulers of that time, these team-leaders and team-managers are aware that “if I let these people unite, I will not be able to survive. A very bad tactic, isn’t it??

Role of Team-Leader / Team Manager

There is a saying in Hindi, “Yatha Raja, Tatha Praja” (As the king, so the people). Hence, the Team-Leader or a Team Manager have very important role to play in “Team Development and Management”. As is understood that to be a Team-Leader or a Team Manager one should have at least one person to supervise and manage. Team Leader should have confidence in his own abilities, knowledge and skills. If he does not have enough confidence in himself, I will doubt his abilities and skills to boost the confidence and morale of his team. To be honest and fair and based on my personal experiences, I do feel that 90% of managers have sense of insecurity from their subordinate. They feel that their subordinates will grow faster. They feel that their position is not secured. They have very low Emotional Quotient. Hence they try “to block” block the pace of growth of their juniors / subordinates. Here are some blocks that Managers / Team Leaders put on the way of their subordinates growth:

Dam – When you construct a dam on a river, it does not stop the growth of the river; rather it generates electricity, helps farmers in irrigation and control floods. Similar is the role of this block in your profession. He guides you. He mentors you. He grooms you. He sharpens your skill. He helps you to grow. He is a catalyst. He knows that he is big enough for you to harm him in any manner. It’s like an executive reporting to a President. This is a positive hurdle.

Hurdle on the road (Rock, big & heavy stone) – Imagine a situation when you are traveling to some place and happen to face this hurdle on the road. What will you do? Either you will remove the hurdle or you will just pass by its side. Another example that I have is roundabouts in Chandigarh . You can not drive over them but need to drive around them to move on other side of the road. In a similar manner, there are blocks in your professional life and you can grow only by ignoring and avoiding them. They feel that they have put, big enough hurdle on the path of your career to slow-down you and/or stop you. It might take some time to over come this hurdle but this is not permanent. This is arrogant / egoistic but temporary hurdle.

Wall under-construction – This is a positive hurdle that you can face in your life. As you grow, the other also grows. He is intelligent and knowledgeable. He is willing to learn all the time. He is a person with high-self esteem. He has high expectations from himself and also from people around him. He is not afraid by the growth of his subordinates. He does not harm the growth of his subordinates. He does not sabotage their growth. The more his subordinate grows, the higher he increases his own level and his competencies.

Closed Door – This is a negative block. Whatever you do, you will face rejection. Things will just bounce on you. This person is afraid of your success and pace of your growth. When in open and competitive market, he feels insecure. He feels comfortable and secured when he is in closed room and that is why he keep the doors closed. If you want to grow in the presence of such superior / boss, you should either be pleading him or buttering him (making him comfortable) or requesting him or you should wait for the right opportunity. (You should look for the ventilator to enter in).

Conclusion

If you want to draw a line, longer than the one which is already drawn, the best way and constructive way to do that is to draw a new line, parallel to existing line and longer than that. Same way, the best way to grow in professional life is to always keep yourself updated with the latest in your domain; to sharpen your skills; to have dreams and to have confidence in yourself. You cannot grow by suppressing someone lower to you. Even if you manage to grow in this fashion, you will not be able to sustain that growth. Be honest to yourself and to your team-members. Don’t lie to them. Share the credit. Most importantly, “Learn to Work in a Team”. Talent Acquisition is Important but Talent Management is Equally Important.

Gone are the days when people use to “butter” their bosses and use to say, “YES Sir” for every order / instruction of their bosses. This is the era of competition. You want to grow then come compete with people.

That’s an end of the write-up. Do share your views and comments.

With Love

Sanjeev Himachali

(BLOG: http://sanjeevhimachali.multiply.com/ or http://sanjeevhimachali.blogspot.com/)

Changing Your Career – How To Write An Effective Cover Letter

There are certain procedures to follow when searching for cover letter samples expressing one’s wish to change career. Career change cover letter samples should show exactly how the introductory letter should begin and what it should include.

At the top corner of most career change cover letter samples will have the potential employee’s address. In most cases, the name should be written on the first line, followed by the address beneath it. Include the city state and the zip code in the address and then add the current phone number. If there is an e-mail address, it can be written under the phone number and then follow it with the date.

It is common for career change cover letters to have the address and pertinent information of the probable employer. If one knows the name and designation of the person to whom the cover letter should be addressed, it is recommended to include it in the letter. Follow it with the company address, ensuring that it is situated at the left portion of the page.

The addresses of career change cover letters have the same style as any normal business letter. For the salutation, if the name of the addressee is known, write it down. However, if otherwise, “Dear Sir or Madam” can be used.

In the first paragraph of the letter, give an introduction and brief opening sentence. For example:

“This letter is to articulate my interest in (the job title) with your organization listed on (insert name) website.” (Put in significant details, position applying for and the newspaper or website where the job was seen.)

The next step is to express how suitable the applicant is for the job mentioned. Experience and relevance to the position applying for should be brought up clearly. One may write something like:

“I feel with my understanding in (specify the field) and my accomplishments in (name previous occupation) make me an ideal applicant for this position.”

The main component of a career change cover letter is its ability to list previous experiences. This gives additional advantage to the candidate. Being able to enumerate an applicant’s achievements in his previous job and the skills he was able to practice can increase the applicant’s attractiveness as an employee.

Write down key characteristics that are concerned with the job being targeted and then qualify straight away how previous experiences or trainings deal with each one. Create a bright picture in few words. Do not turn the letter into an essay. This letter should serve as an overview of the topic in positive terms. For instance:

“My experience in (jot down an experience) has helped me gain proficiency in many areas of the position mentioned. I consider (list down strengths) as my strengths.” (Then, provide examples of instances where these skills have been used successfully).

These qualities can be written in point format. Write only those strengths that will be advantageous to the job applied for.

Style every cover letter to suit the specific job and the organization one is applying for. Get some background information on the organization involved and mention in the cover letter any relevant information collected where applicable.

After citing the key characteristics, conclude. Write down contact information about the applicant to make it easy for the potential employer to get in touch with the applicant.

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