A Goal Without A Plan Is Just A Wish

Survival Jobs: Focus On Alignment With Your Goals

Have you been laid off or fired? In any case, you may have found the need to take on a less desirable job to make ends meet… A job otherwise known as a Survival Job.

A Survival Job isn’t something you should be ashamed about. As a matter of fact, it can be one of the most responsible things you can do.

Not any survival job will do, in my opinion. There are many jobs out there that you can secure “easily”, this means with minimal or no reference or background checks. Many will not require a resume. Most of these jobs tend to be in the service sector (retail, food, etc.).

Don’t simply apply for your Survival Job at the places most convenient to your home. Consider your interests, educational background, and hobbies. Focus your Survival Job search on those companies that relate to your “formal” career, long-term goals, background and interests. This makes it more likely that your Survival Job skills will provide you with transferable skills that can serve you in the future when the job market picks up again.

For example, if you were a construction worker, try to get a Survival Job at your local Home Depot. If you were an IT/Computer Professional, visit your local Best Buy and secure a gig in their computer department. If you were a Video Game Designer, apply to your local GameStop.

Business Building Tip: Cookie-cutter approaches won't cut it

I was invited to watch a info video about a new product that could help me in my own business. I was very interested. Guess what? The company created an unrealistic time frame for making said video available, in order to create a "strong incentive" to watch the video quickly.

Lesson: Know your audience and cater to them, otherwise you'll lose them and your credibility. Using "scarcity" strategies to entice people to take action quicker won't work if you have no idea how to effectively use them. In other words, don't cut off your nose to spite your face

You've seen scarcity strategies before: "If you call within an hour you'll get XYZ for free!" or "Only 5 left, don't get left out!"

This business, which I won't name, said in their marketing email, "I don't want you wasting any more time trying to use ineffective strategies to transform your business: I want to help you to get it right now with simple, easy to implement strategies and tools."

If they can't get their own marketing strategies right, how can they help anyone with theirs?

Many companies attempt to use cookie-cutter strategies, but don't do so effectively. They end up tripping over their own feet and missing tremendous opportunities for profit. Don't be like them. Your specific marketing strategy should correlate with your target audience. Is your target audience busy? Give them more time. Where do they go? Go market there. What do they want and need? Give it to them.

Cookie-cutter approaches just won't cut it in this economy.