Start A Blog in 5 Minutes - A great tactic for finding a job

Yesterday I'd been scheduled to give a blogging workshop at a local networking group for unemployed professionals, BoulderNet. This is a wonderful group and the leadership really inspired me when I was unemployed. Unfortunately, there was a communication mixup, so I wasn't able to speak after all, but I have an alternative for those who want to learn to blog:

A full set of video tutorials is available for free at RecognizedExpert.com/blogger. Listen to the first two videos and you will have a blog up and running on Google's blogger in less than 5 minutes.(Blogger's the blogging platform I'm using for this blog.) Then you can sign up for free to get a link to the full set of 118 videos and learn all kinds of cool tricks and tips. I signed up almost a year ago and I haven't received a bit of spam from this site. And I learned so much! I highly recommend it.

Other posts that you may find interesting:

Picking a Blogging Platform
How to get Your Blog Blasted Everywhere
The Ultimate Job Search Using 10 Social Media Tools
How Blogging Got Me the Perfect Job

I highly recommend blogging, particularly for those who are looking for a job. It's a wonderful way to network, establish credibility, and learn so much yourself. The resources that are available for free via the web are absolutely incredible! We have the whole world at our fingertips... tutorials, white papers, blogs, and best of all, experts in every field that will help and support you! Take advantage of it! Learn and then give back, by passing it on!

I Love A Freebie - The Frugal Social Media Coach

I took this photo when walking along Pearl Street today. It made me smile! 10 points!

To say I'm frugal is bit of an understatement. When I'm in a financial crisis (as I just happen to be right now) I like to play a game that I made up called SuperFrug! (An alternative name might be "Cheapskate Fun!")


Here is my "SuperFrug" game:

Objective: Have the most fun and spend the least amount of money

Every Day do these things without spending money:

• Learn something new - 10 points
• Experience something (person, place, event, etc.) that makes you feel happy. - 10 points
• Take a picture of something that makes you smile (could be same as above.) - 10 points
• Do something that brightens someone's day - 10 points
• Record what you've done (either via blog or private journal) - 10 points

At a loss for what you can learn new? Look no more! Here are 130+ things you can do that will most likely fall into the Learn Something new" category.

Top 100 Social Media Cheat Sheet for Business
30+ Websites to Visit When You’re Laid Off

Please note: Points are completely worthless, but if it makes you feel better, let me know when you reach 1000 points and I'll send you some kind of brand-spanking new virtual gift.

Ideas of things you can experience for free:

• Go to a meetup for something your passionate about
• Exercise: hike, bike, run, swim, etc.
• Invite someone you meet via FaceBook to coffee (Though I think proper etiquette would be to pay for the coffee, that's a small price for gaining a new friend. If you're really desperate, I suppose you could rob the place, but that would reveal a Go Directly to Jail card and is poor strategy for this game.)
• Write
• Read
• Listen to music (Live bands playing all summer in many locations around Boulder)
• Go on a picnic (maybe with a new contact?)
• Play!
• Enjoy the summer sun
• Go to free events around town (Check the Yellow Scene for ideas )

Ideas of things you can do to brighten someone's day for free:

• Comment on someone's blog (if you're at a loss, you can always use mine!)
  
• Call or email a friend to let them know what you admire about them
• Invite someone to go with you on one of your "SuperFrug" adventures
• Spend 15 minutes catching up with friends via FaceBook or Twitter. Comment so they know you checked out their latest photos, etc.
• Make a yummy pasta dish or cookies to share with someone
• Write on your blog about a person you admire (and let him/her know!)
• Volunteer

And the number one thing you can do, over and over again?

SMILE!

Bouldernet's Got Talent - Liz Ryan

First off, I apologize to both Liz Ryan and the gentleman whose head I caught in this photo. Obviously, I must add “learn how to take a good photo” on my ever-growing list of things I’m going to learn while I’m unemployed. One of my other goals has been to meet cool, influential people and spread the word about them. As mentioned with my blog post about Dave Taylor, I have yet to really do my homework on gaining followers. For now, I’m just trying to get my feet wet learning about social media tools – and believe me, there are a lot to choose from.

So how did I get to see Liz, up close and personal? It started with my friend, Pete, who invited me to Bouldernet, a group of Boulder-area job-seekers that meets weekly on Thursday mornings. I was greeted by a group of about 50 people, all very friendly and welcoming. At the beginning of the meeting, “I have a job” announcements were made, followed by cheers from the group. There were smiles and handshakes and it was kind of heartwarming to be joining this special club of supporters. When we newbies got up to introduce ourselves it did seem a bit like AA. “My name is Yvette. I’ve been unemployed for 1 week.” I almost said I was a recovered workaholic. I let the group know that I’d be interested in giving a session on use of Social Media to find a job, and the leader, Dave Collins, spoke to me after the meeting and gave me the thumbs up to present in August. Several others, including a few other Sun alumni, came up and introduced themselves to me.

But where does Liz fit in? Well, it turns out, she was the speaker at Thursday’s meeting! I’d heard of this dynamic woman before. She’s a popular speaker and writer and her name had come up through The Women’s Vision Foundation – a group I worked with through my role as Women@Sun chair. Liz has an active online community of her own called AskLizRyan. This was the first I’d had a chance to hear her speak and boy, was it a treat! Liz, not only has a lot of great advice about resume writing, she’s hilarious! I’d try to recap some of her best quips, but it’s really her anecdotes and personality that make her funny. She could make it as a stand-up comic in LA! At one point she belted out a few lines from My Fair Lady’s “Show Me,” in an attempt to point out our resumes should not be full of flowery adjectives, but instead tell of our accomplishments with hard facts. All the resume advice was great, but at this point, I was thinking that Liz could not only be stand-up comic, but a musical sensation on Broadway! So we got it all -- resume advice, comedy, and a little bit of music.

What a great group! I was able to meet new people, learn how to improve my resume, and listen to an excellent speaker – all for a $1 donation! Had I known unemployment could be so good, I think I would have gotten laid off long ago!

Of course, when I got home, that My Fair Lady song was still going through my head. I had to check to see if Liz thought to produce her singing talent on YouTube. I found her on YouTube, but she was giving resume advice. After checking out Liz's Bio, I found that, indeed she is mega-talented, has written the book: Happy About Online Networking: The virtual-ly simple way to build professional relationships and is a professional opera singer! I knew it!

All the resume advice Liz gives is great, but I seriously think she needs to capitalize on that singing. I mean if Susan Boyle can make it big that way, certainly Liz Ryan can. Maybe even I could! Here’s a song to help inspire all of us unemployed people to really demonstrate our talents.

Goodbye Sun, Hello World

Well, it happened. Not unexpected, but still a bit of a shock to hear the words. I'm impacted by Sun's Reduction in Force. I've dodged the bullet many times before and figured I was living on borrowed time after the Oracle announcement. I'm mentally prepared. I suppose it's a lot how I might feel at the end of my life - scared of the unknown, but so very, very grateful for all that I've been blessed with during the years I lived. Oh... and a bit panicked about wanting to be sure I say goodbye to all the people I love!

For the past ten and a half years I've worked as an IT Manager at Sun Microsystems. I've loved the job. I've often said, I'd do this work even if I weren't getting paid for it... (guess now I'll have the chance!) A couple of years ago, I submitted a nomination to Computerworld for why Sun is the best place to work in IT. The last and most important reason was the people.

Saying Goodbye to all the friends I've worked with over these years is the hardest part of this day for me. Knowing that I'm connected to so many of them via social media sites like LinkedIn and FaceBook makes it much easier. Thank goodness for those many connections I've made over the years. Many of my colleagues have gone through this before me, and luckily, we had the foresight to connect via LinkedIn way before I knew what social networking even meant. Wouldn't it be great if we still had our connections even as we head to the afterlife? I can just imagine the Tweets I'd send from heaven: "Ran into Peter at the Pearly Gates" or "JC and I having a little wine and manna. Care to join?"

But I'm not headed there yet. Right now, I'm just heading out to whereever my life leads me. Whether that's a Social Media coach/consultant, a new job in IT, or an unemployed bum enjoying life, I don't know, but it will be a fun journey. There's a big world to explore. And thanks to Social Media, I don't have to say goodbye to my past. So to all my friends and connections, past, present, and future, I won't say Goodbye. Instead, as we say in IT, let me cyber-shout an enthusiastic:

Hello World!

Personal Email Address: yvette.francino@gmail.com
Blog: http://geekgal-yvette.blogspot.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/yvettefrancino
FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/yvette.francino
Twitter: @yvettef