Resume typos may just cost you the job

The subject of grammatical gaffes, typos, misspellings and the like transcends into the world of resume writing.

If you've ever worked on a resume, you know how time consuming it can be (in my case, it's been weeks!). Why spend all that time on it just to have it ruined by a typo or a misspelled word? As they say, you only have one chance to make a first impression. When it comes to your resume or curriculum vitae, you'll want to put your best brand forward by highlighting only your skills and accomplishments, not your inability to proof what you publish.

It's no secret that talent teams use certain "filters" to narrow down their candidate pools. Maybe the candidate doesn't have certain key words; or adequate experience for the role. Throw in typos and misspellings onto your resume, and you're giving your prospective employer a reason to eliminate you from contention (by the way, this is that moment when you kiss that job goodbye).

Don't take any chances. Eliminating typos and misspellings is probably the simplest step in your resume-creation process. If somebody helped you write your resume, make sure to spell check; better yet, get a friend or colleague to proof it for you. You're simply too close to it and you'll miss stuff.

Brands galore, by the aisles

When I got married, my father had two words of advice for me. Literally.

"Yes, dear" he says. Remember those two words. They may not guarantee that your marriage will not end in divorce, but those two very powerful words will carry you through a long way. I suppose he was speaking from experience, as he and my mother had been together for almost thirty years when he offered me his words of wisdom.

So when my wife asks me to go grocery shopping, I of course oblige and reply (without hesitation), "Yes, dear."

Let's just say I've been the designated "grocery shopper" of our household and enjoy the role tremendously. I like to shop in the evenings. Less crowded and shorter lines. Plus I get to do some people watching, to boot. There's something about the later hours that bring out the different characters from my neighborhood. I don't live in a bad neighborhood, but this one particular grocery store attracts some fairly interesting characters (at least from an appearance standpoint). I actually don't mind one bit and get a kick out of it.

Being at the grocery store enables me to interact with thousands of brands--all under one roof--and organized neatly in aisles. Years ago, I've made it my policy to take home one new product every time I visit the grocery store. I still do it religiously to this day.

How are you going to know if something's good if you don't actually try it? True, you may learn that something isn't that good either, but you have to take the bad with the good. That's just life.

I'm sure you've heard of the more popular food brands. There's Yoplait and Starbucks, to name a couple. I say boring. Blase. Overplayed and too safe.

There's certainly nothing wrong with being safe, knowing that you'll get the same brand experience every time. That's a great thing, something that all brands should aspire to be with their customers.

You'll simply miss out. There's many great undiscovered brands out there, waiting for you to discover them. This may run counter to the brand loyalty concept, but loyalty shmoyalty. That's why you have brand managers, marketers and advertisers.

Next time you're at the grocery store, pick up your new product and give it a whirl. You might just find your new favorite.

Grammatical gaffes and their far-reaching consequences to your brand

I cringe at the thought of misspellings and typos. Yet oddly enough, I keep my eyes peeled for them constantly. I mean CONSTANTLY. Really.

Sickness or not, I'm almost wishing and hoping to find that gaffe--in the paragraph of a book, a magazine article, an ad; on those banners that people hang all over the place or from wherever for that matter.

Pay heed to this warning and clean up your act, as your grammatical gaffes may have more far-reaching consequences to your brand (think reader/user experience, search results and conversion rates).

Here's a Website Magazine article from Michael Garrity. Have a read.

The time is now

"Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today." One of many Lord Chesterfield quotes.

If there's that thing (or two) that you've always thought about doing, stop thinking and start doing it today. Not yesterday (you're already too late). Not tomorrow (don't kid yourself...you'll never get around to it).

The time is now.

And don't overthink it. Take writing for example. You'll never get that perfect start. If you want to know the secret to successful writing, here it is. Start by writing. Then write some more. Then write some more.

And when you're on a roll, write some more. Get the point?

Jump in and everything will fall into place much more easily than you might imagine. Your passion for what you're writing about will shine through and bright, and you'll find a captive audience (or two). Keep in mind you're your own worst critic, so don't judge. The web is full of people who are hungry for content.

So what are you waiting for?

Woulda Coulda Shoulda

In reality, the very first post on my blog was written well over four years ago! It was February 2009 to be exact. Never mind the date stamp of April 2013...that resulted from not being terribly well versed with Blogger. And what can I say? I'm also click happy.

Time sure did fly, and I'm not quite certain I was having fun all along.

I recently read Hugh MacLeod's (acclaimed blogger behind gapingvoid.com) book. Mostly cartoon illustrations from Hugh, but it does include some words with lots of insight on blogging and how to succeed online. It's Hugh's book that pushed me over the edge to start my blog. Now. At this very moment. 

Hell, I've been sitting on my arse for the last four years. Was I going to sit around for another four? Dagnabbit, no!

The Start

Just got started with Blogger. Here goes...