StevieSue.com

I’ve posted before about the resume’s downward spiral. Deb Dib tells it like it is so well today at the CareerHub blog. Check it out!

These sites strive to bring people of similar interests together in a “meeting place” online. Once a member of a social networking site, you are able to search the member directory, participate in discussions online, and share information and files. Joining is often free for a basic membership with upgrades of service costing an optional monthly charge.

With social networking online, it becomes easier to visualize your personal network. You can also connect people you know with other people you know by online introductions.

It is wise to exercise caution with any online profiles you create on social networking sites just as you would with writing and sending email. Info you put out there can be used against you.

Examples of social networking sites include www.plaxo.com, www.twitter.com, www.myspace.com, www.facebook.com, www.linkedin.com, and www.xing.com.

• Much like regular portfolios for career development but these portfolios are websites used for storing proof of your accomplishments. Once your electronic portfolio is published on the internet, you can send an email with the link to invite others to view it. You may also choose to make it available for anyone to find it using search engines.

• There are many ways to build them as evidenced by Dr. Helen Barrett’s research site on electronic portfolios.

• Potential tools to choose from for posting a portfolio online are blogging software (like TypePad, Blogger, or WordPress); and Google Documents.

Aggregators (a.k.a. feed aggregator or RSS aggregator)

• You can use aggregator software to create what is essentially your own customized digital newspaper!

• What topics do you like to or need to read about? Locate your favorite websites on the topics then click on the RSS feed button that can be found on many websites to add each website to your list to watch for regular updates. This saves time because the feed will automatically post updates to your aggregator so that you can see what’s new on you favorite sites very conveniently.

• Examples of free aggregators are Google Reader and Bloglines.com.

Here are some tools that will come in handy for careerillionaires and infopreneurs!

Meta Search Engines (a.k.a metacrawlers)

• This type of internet search sends search requests to multiple search engines at once and puts the gathered responses in one long list. It’s a good idea to use a metacrawler in addition to your favorite search engine just to make sure you aren’t missing anything major. Using a meta search engine saves time since you won’t have to go to multiple websites to perform the same search.

• Top examples include www.mamma.com, www.dogpile.com, and www.clusty.com.

• I like www.clusty.com because it also divides the search results by category which makes quickly reviewing more precise results much easier.

• A variation is this tool specifically for searching career advice related articles - www.chimby.com.

• Meta searching job openings posted on the web can also be done. Try www.simplyhired.com and www.indeed.com.

There is not an OSFA (one size fits all) for career assessments. Generally, though, there are some important data sets that a person can consider when taking stock of career options – personality type, interests, skills, and values.

• For personality type, I recommend the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). You can find a list of providers of the assessment here. There are some great books and free resources on the net too. Here is one option.

• For interests, I recommend the Strong Interest Inventory. See the list of providers above many who also give this assessment. Here is a quick version you can check out free online (click on the column headings in white).

• For skills assessment, I like to reference the O*Net Skills Search checklist which is free online. Here is another good free one online.

• For values, I like Dick Knowdell’s Career Values Card Sort. But here is a very good free resource.

It is better to focus on your strengths and be aware of your weaknesses from the standpoint of having a high quality of life. It is stressful to work exhaustively on improving weaknesses and furthermore it doesn’t honor your strengths or the strengths of those around you. It is okay that someone else is better at something than you. Respect them for their gifts while honoring yourself for yours too.

Most likely, you will learn about or create lots of other opportunities while going through the exercise of recognizing your strengths. Possibilities for career changes or enhancement will emerge that you never imagined.

I can recommend the following resources for learning more about strengths.

I’m surprised how much forethought blogging actually takes. You have to decide a topic and a voice, which platform to use, what design and plugins to use, whether to have comments or not, and how often to post, to name a few. Plus there is a big learning curve to face. Then you have to find a balance between creating posts and checking stats and such…all potentially very time consuming (and addictive).

Blogging is certainly not for everyone. It is getting pretty popular though. Truthfully, I’m not sure if I am glad to be doing it yet or not. I’m sticking with it because I think it will pay off soon as I get faster at developing content and better at juggling it with my other projects. For me, the only downside has been the time commitment and the pressure to post. I’m not going too crazy about deadlines but I am striving to be consistent. The pluses for me have been that I enjoy learning about the technology and I now have a relevant reason to get my thoughts and ideas down on paper on a regular basis which really helps with my infopreneurial endeavors.

Yesterday, I saw a very good article about the benefits of building a content focused website rather than blogging. It was very convincing. From an infopreneurial standpoint it definitely makes more sense to think in terms of a content driven site rather than a blog mainly due to potentially improved page ranking to more easily connect to the intended target audience. Another reason is the higher level of control the infopreneur can have over their writing/production schedule with a content driven website. The big downside the infopreneurial blogger has to overcome is that the relationship building aspect of blogging is quite strained right from the start when you are so obviously trying to sell something. I mean it has to be done carefully because how many people would subscribe to a constant commercial? Here are a couple of infopreneurial website examples for you. The first is a content driven site, Love-of-Roses.com. This site is less than a year old from what I understand and has an awesome traffic ranking already. Next, here is one in the form of a blog, Seth Godin’s Blog. Seth has figured out the fine line that an infopreneurial blogger must manage to build traffic and sell his products and expertise.

Now, career blogging is a whole different story. I believe it to be a cutting edge career advancement technique. Your blog can become a showcase for your unique knowledge and skills. With small regular posts you can quickly build an impressive portfolio demonstrating more about your personality and quality of work while building your reputation at the same time. Plus, a blog can be an outstanding networking tool. This is just the kind of thing the blogosphere was meant for…sharing information, having a discussion, building relationships. Here is a fine example of a career blog to check out if you like the idea of blogging to advance your career - Publishing Careers by Lori Cates Hand. I love the way she has built the blog around the central theme of an informational interview for those interested in the industry. This instantly sets her up as an expert. It also leads to numerous ideas for topics to write about as she discusses her own career journey and daily activities. She also interviews others in the industry which greatly furthers her professional networking activities and exposure. Brilliant!

Millionaire Blueprints is one of my favorite reads. There are great stories in here to inspire entrepreneurs and people in traditional careers since the featured bios demonstrate a lot of creative thinking and persistence. You can also feel the passion of people in all kinds of businesses and careers which is very inspirational.

I think reading good stuff like this makes an abundance mindset more likely by helping to keep us more aware of opportunities all around us as well as our own potential based on our unique combination of personal strengths.