Even if you are employed, please take a look at the table of contents of What Color Is Your Parachute?  A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career Changers 2013 edition, published by Ten Speed Press.

This miraculous book is updated every year by Mr. Richard N. Bolles (I call him the Yoda for job seekers)

Coach Teresa says: “What Color Is Your Parachute? is for Writers and Artists”

Go to http://www.jobhuntersbible.com/  for resources and be inspired by Mr. Richard N. Bolles’s warm and engaging writing style.

**

Mr. Richard Nelson Bolles loves to give us hope.

Other Books by Richard N. Bolles

The Job-Hunter’s Survival Guide: How to Find Hope and Rewarding Work, Even When “There Are No Jobs” (2009)

How to Find Your Mission in Life (2005)

The Three Boxes of Life, and How to Get Out of Them: An Introduction to Life/Work Planning (1981)

Books by Richard Bolles with Co-authors

The Career Counselor’s Handbook (2007, Second edition)
(Howard Figler is co-author)

What Color Is Your Parachute? For Teens (2010)
(Carol Christen, with Jean M. Blomquist are co-authors)

What Color Is Your Parachute? For Retirement (2010)
(John E. Nelson is co-author)

Job-Hunting Online (2011)
(Mark Emery Bolles is co-author)

Job-Hunting for the So-Called Handicapped (2001, Second edition)
(Dale S. Brown is co-author)

Where Do I Go from Here with My Life? A systematic and practical workbook for counselors, instructors, and job club leaders. (1974; essentially out of print)
(The late John C. Crystal is co-author)

**

Coach Teresa here . . .  Recently I found a treasure – a letter to me from Mr. Richard Nelson Bolles dated April 1, 1994!  That letter (along with current emails from the Yoda  for job seekers) has given me new inspiration in my own work.  Thank you, Mr. Bolles!

**

I’ll be blogging about Rebecca Martin, Founder/CEO of Dear Jane Inc. soon !

http://dearjane.info

Dear Jane Inc.’s mission statement:   dear jane… is a comprehensive career advisement company dedicated to helping individuals and corporations meet their personal and financial goals in order to improve the overall quality of the global workforce.

By training, coaching and educating individual workers, as well as companies, dear jane… is committed to improving human welfare, values and dignity.

Sincerely,

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan says: “Reach out, not stress out, to materialize your dearest dreams.”   http://writingcoachteresa.com

As coach and author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW , Teresa says: “Whether you are writing fiction or nonfiction, make your name synonymous with the issues you write about.”

As author of Love Made of Heart, creator of Love Made of Heart gift items and the Talking to My Dead Mom Monologues, Teresa encourages writers to speak out (in print) for those who cannot speak for themselves.

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan here.  Who do I coach?  Writers.  I help clients polish their manuscripts and map out their publishing journeys.

Teaching at San Francisco Writers Conference every year gives me the joy of seeing colleagues and meeting other fascinating writers, one of whom being Greg Marcus.  He hooked my attention with his mission statement: “I am a modern-day Abraham who smashes corporate idols and help the chronically overworked find a more fulfilling life.”

I checked out Greg’s http://idolbuster.com  and his May 25, 2012 post “Why Work More Than 50 Hours Per week?” got me thinking about . . .

I was delighted when Greg asked me to guest-blog.

Read more  . . .  about:

Unraveling the Mystery Of Platform

First Step – Understand Your Values and Who You Are

Sincerely,

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

Editor, Story Consultant, Platform-Building Coach

http://writingcoachteresa.com

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan has helped over 1,000 writers.

“Reach out, not stress out, to materialize your dearest dreams.”

# # # # # # # # # # #

Greg Marcus says:

Thank you Coach Teresa for a great post. I’ve found that advice for writers is often applicable in business and life. Your post is no exception. Writers are a one-person business, and can’t separate the product from the platform.

Greg,

Thank you again for giving me the opportunity to guest-blog.  You are so right — the business of being a writer does require the balancing act of writing (producing) and platform-building (hooking attention).  Why get stressed out?  Instead, reach out.

Bethany Lee comments:

Thank you Greg for bringing Teresa to guest post here. This was a very informative post, and as a writer/blogger, I found myself soaking this up because I’m starting to think more about services I can sell via my blog. This idea about having a platform–making your name stand for something–is something I’ve been thinking about lately, and I’m trying to focus in on that. I think I’m close, but I also think there’s more to it than just discovering it yourself–that once you discover it, you have to promote the idea and get people to believe it too–right? Also, I was wondering about these two exercises. How do they help you to discover your platform? In other words, how do I take the stuff I come up with here and apply it to make it a tagline?

Hi, Bethany,

Greg is right-on — your honest responses to the 2 exercises from Day 1 of my 22-day workbook are eye-openers.

Your question:  ” . . . how do I take the stuff I come up with here and apply it to make it a tagline?
My questions to you:
What themes/subject matters compel you to write?
What themes/subject matters hook your attention when you’re the reader?

As my colleague Elisa Sasa Southard (the talking-tagline guru) would say: “Start with I CAN . . . ”
And I say: Speak your name; add the action-verb; complete the statement with how your work helps people.

From now on, introduce yourself with your full name. When someone asks you: “What do you do?”  . . . you answer with a sentence that includes an action verb.

Examples:

(as a novelist) Through my book Love Made of Heart, I can help mothers and daughters speak from the heart.
(as a narrative nonfiction writer)  Through my essays and speeches, I speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves.
(as a prescriptive nonfiction aka “how to” writer) Through my coaching and workbook, I show writers how to gain fans before and after publication.

Also, you may be asking: “Why 22 days?”
Because . . . when we stick to something for 21 consecutive days, we develop a new habit. Why not gain the wonderful habit of building our platform/name?  On the 22nd day, we celebrate. Everyday is a good day to build your name / fanbase / platform!

Sincerely,

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan
Editor, Story Consultant, Platform-Building Coach
http://writingcoachteresa.com

Bethany commented again:

Teresa and Greg, thank you for your responses here. This is excellent. Here’s my answer to the who are you question: I’m Bethany Jo Lee and I can encourage you to keep moving forward in your endeavors. That’s a start, maybe not perfect, but I like the lesson here. I need your 22 day book!

I just bought her book and tweeted it! I’m very excited to read it. Thanks Greg.

Bethany Jo Lee,
Your tagline: “I can encourage you to keep moving forward in your endeavors” is wonderful !
You’ll see how your tagline and the 5 secret keys in my workbook will lead you to bigger and bigger connections.
I’m cheering for you!
Sincerely,
Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan
“Reach out, not stress out, to materialize your dearest dreams.”
http://writingcoachteresa.com