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Bullet Points: Rent-a-CEO, Lost in Space, and Getting Your Target Market Straight
Temps aren’t just entry- or mid-level anymore. They might also be very senior CEO/CFO types. Welcome to the “rise of the hired gun C suite.” [Fortune]- As the space shuttle program comes to an end, everyone whose job is tied to spaceflight is wondering what’s next.
- Experts seem to agree that no one ever got big by being all things to all men–as one marketer says, “You’ve got to be perceived as the best at something.” Inc. magazine has more tips on narrowing your target market.
- Fast Society is a buzzy Android and iPhone app that lets you corral friends, family, and colleagues into groups that you can contact at the same time, either via a conference call or a text message. More here.
Guns in the News: Ramona Pringle Looks at Gamers in Love (IRL)
One of our Hired Guns, Ramona Pringle, was featured in Friday’s New York Times. She was their go-to expert to explain the ways that video games and gaming culture help people in real life–and that includes their love life. This was the subject of her talk at SXSW Interactive last month.
Hired Guns Poll: (Job) Interview with a Vampire–Which Question Bites the Most?
We’ve all dealt with interview questions that are predictable, unclear, or difficult to answer well. But a recent comic by The Oatmeal got us thinking about which interview question deserves to be ranked as the absolute lamest.
Did we miss an interview question that really torques you off? Put it in the comments. And if you found yourself looking for “all of the above,” check out our recent roundup of advice on interviewing effectively.
Make Your Lunch at Work Count
Brooke Alpert is a nutritionist and the founder of B Nutritious, a private nutrition counseling practice based in New York City. She blogs for us about how to stay healthy, fit, and centered during even the craziest of work weeks.
Think that a long leisurely lunch will help you eat less for the rest of the day? Some new research suggests otherwise. A study published last month in the Journal of Nutrition found that people who had a two-hour meal didn’t eat less over the rest of their day than those who spent just 30 minutes eating.
Having a long lunch (or any other long meal) can lead to different outcomes for different people. For some of my clients, long work lunches lead to eating more calories from multiple courses that they otherwise wouldn’t have had. For others, the leisurely speed of the meal allows them to be more aware of their hunger levels and feel more satisfied than they would be if they’d just been shoveling in food at their desk. Read More →
Living Through Lulls: When Your Freelancing’s in a Slump
The great thing about freelancing is the free time it affords you. The bad thing about freelancing is the free time forced on you. But freelancers know the deal. Always look for your next job. The problem for me is that when I’m on deadline with little time to even shower, the job search tends to take a back seat to a delivery-menu search for the perfect burger. The one I’ll devour in front of my laptop.
When the job wraps up, and I’m a week into free time, I always regret not having been more diligent in lining up work. By that point, I have caught up on laundry, errands, TV, and sleep. I’ve updated all my software, checked the job boards, and probably snuck in a liquid lunch with friends. I peek at my phone every two minutes like a desperate girl after a first date.
Crickets. Tumbleweed. Panic sets in as I wonder how long I can survive on the check from my last job. Of course, I reach out to everyone I’ve ever met with the undesperate-as-possible email about how “my schedule just opened up and I am available for work if you need anything! : ).” I go to every network-y event I can force myself to attend. Timing is everything, though, and sometimes all this yields is an empty inbox and a cheap wine hangover.
I try to enjoy the downtime and smell the roses. I do. However, the last few years have left me with no padding for lean times, and I’m certainly in no position to take that dream vacation to Spain until things pick up. Instead, my inner fatalist plans what items I will tote around in my new shopping cart/home and which block in Manhattan will be the most hospitable for both me and the dog. Wait, what’s that? The ding of my inbox! You need “what” designed? For how much? I’ll take it. I’m back, bitches!
[Image: Will Design For Food by ~WaSoOoM on deviantART]
The Tax Man Cometh: 5 Small-Business Tips for Next Year
Today we welcome to the blog Beth Temple (@bethtemple4u), a digital consultant whose column is for the “preneurs” in The Hired Guns family. Although her focus will be split among advice for the entrepreneur, intrapreneur, and solopreneur, she will always return to proven ways to get ahead–whether it’s by growing your company, mastering important leadership skills, or learning how to sell yourself.
I know what you’re thinking–you missed the mark. Tax Day has come and gone. Well, for this year it has, but trust me, it will be back next year, and the best time to start planning for April 15, 2012, is now.
If you are like most small business owners (and yes, being just one person counts as being a business!), you’ve probably made some tax mistakes. I did my first year out: I didn’t realize that I had to pay quarterly estimated taxes based on forecasted income. Only made that mistake once.
Here are some things you should be doing now (and forever after) to help ensure a smooth tax season next year:
1) Beth’s 40% rule: In order to be sure I have the money I need throughout the year to pay for taxes, I take out 40% from every check (let me repeat that–EVERY check) and put it in a special account just for taxes. This way I don’t see it, I don’t spend it, and I always have the cash I need. Put the money in a saving account attached to your business checking account–it’s never a good idea to co-mingle your business and personal money. At the end of the year, if there is any left over in the tax account (and there usually is), that’s my yearly bonus. I either invest it back into the business or buy something small as a reward. (You could also use it to bulk up the three to six months’ worth of living expenses that financial experts say we all should have but often don’t.) Read More →
Bullet Points: Ace That Interview
- Interviews with more than 70 leaders for the NYT’s Corner Office columns have shown some traits that successful executives share–they’re the same traits the execs look for when their companies are hiring. [excerpt from The Corner Office]
- Saying that you were “”the only employee who did things right” at your last job is no way to land a new one. [FINS]
- It’s from November, but these interview myths from “Ask Annie” remain just as useful a read. Thinking that interviewers will always be prepared and know all about you is a belief worth getting over as soon as possible.
- We’ve all heard them, and now The Oatmeal’s drawn them: the 6 crappiest interview questions.
Bullet Points: The Great Coupon Bubble; Design Mistakes; AOL, Too Busy to Call
- Gawker (of all places) looks at Groupon and other online coupon sites and finds them less than sustainable, relying as they do on an endless churn of new clients.
- Top 5 web design mistakes that small businesses make [Mashable]
- Ji Lee, Facebook’s first creative director, has a resume that includes “editorial cartoonist for the New York Times” as well as “freelance designer and artist.” His biggest previous role, however, was as a designer at Google’s Creative Lab. Business Insider has more.
- The Oatmeal investigates why designers don’t like changes to their design–it’s not pretty.
- If you haven’t seen it already, visit the Awl for the freelance writer Carter Maness’s account of how he was let go from his “permalancer” gig at AOL. It’s not that pretty, either.
Event of the Week: “20 Under 30” New Visual Artists launch party (NYC)
This Thursday in New York, at the Phaidon Store, Print Magazine celebrates its most recent “New Visual Artists” issue. The reception and exhibition, co-sponsored by Brooklyn Brewery, will include artwork selected from the issue.
To find out more about this and other upcoming Hired-Guns-approved happenings, head to our events page.
How Not to Succeed in Business: 5 Ways to Lead Like a General, not a Coach!
“Management experts” (insert sarcastic chuckle here) are fond of saying that effective business managers lead like coaches, not generals. They point out that in today’s dynamic business world, where top employees have specialized skills as well as the freedom and motivation to change jobs to achieve their career goals, treating employees like regimented foot soldiers is a recipe for disaster. Coaching them like members of a high-performing athletic team is a more productive approach.
What these so-called “experts” fail to understand is that business is a battleground, not a junior-high girls’ badminton league. To succeed, you’ve got to crush your competitors, and what better way to instill that mindset than by crushing your own employees first?
Here are five great ways to do that:
1. Talk, don’t listen! Generals give commands. Coaches have team meetings, make suggestions, and (snicker, snicker) solicit team input. If Patton had adopted the coaching style of leadership during WWII, we’d all be speaking German. Read More →
