I Dont Get Naymz

I Dont Get Naymz Last night I got the umteenth e-mail asking me what I think about Naymz. Naymz is a site that I have recommended, based on a friends recommendation, as a tool to help you claim more of your online profile. Theoretically it is a site that helps your name come up on a Google search at least, thats the way I understood it. I finally signed up for Naymz to check it out. I was discouraged by two things: Of course, like social networking sites, they wanted me to invite all of my contacts to the network. The problem with this, in my opinion, is that if I do this, Im strongly endorsing Naymz to my contacts, which Im not in a position to do yet. Plus, I might recommend it to a few people, but I dont want to do a blanket endorsement to all of my contacts (some of whom I have a strong (or weak) relationship with). Just by filling out my profile I get points. Want another five points? Put what country you are in (but dont put USA they dont like abbreviations)! Want another five points? Put what city you are in! Hold on I want privacy (well, you know what I mean :p) this idea of getting points is a yellow flag for my skeptical side. My understanding is you get more points, which makes you more credible (ie, the more points you have, the more real/genuine/trustworthy/??? you are ??). Instead of discouraging anyone from using this, Ill throw it right back at you what do you know about Naymz? Is this something that has helped you, or that you recommend? How or why? If you are interested in reading more about Naymz, heres some buzz in the blogosphere: Liquid HR writes Naymz.com business model and context Favorite Online Resources writes Naymz Reputation Network Technology Evangelist writes A Stalker Enabled Social Network (note, his argument applies to LinkedIn, too. Read the comments on that post to figure out how to resolve it, if you are concerned (Im not)) Web 2.0 Weblog writes What The Hell Is This Naymz Thing? I Dont Get Naymz Last night I got the umteenth e-mail asking me what I think about Naymz. Naymz is a site that I have recommended, based on a friends recommendation, as a tool to help you claim more of your online profile. Theoretically it is a site that helps your name come up on a Google search at least, thats the way I understood it. I finally signed up for Naymz to check it out. I was discouraged by two things: Of course, like social networking sites, they wanted me to invite all of my contacts to the network. The problem with this, in my opinion, is that if I do this, Im strongly endorsing Naymz to my contacts, which Im not in a position to do yet. Plus, I might recommend it to a few people, but I dont want to do a blanket endorsement to all of my contacts (some of whom I have a strong (or weak) relationship with). Just by filling out my profile I get points. Want another five points? Put what country you are in (but dont put USA they dont like abbreviations)! Want another five points? Put what city you are in! Hold on I want privacy (well, you know what I mean :p) this idea of getting points is a yellow flag for my skeptical side. My understanding is you get more points, which makes you more credible (ie, the more points you have, the more real/genuine/trustworthy/??? you are ??). Instead of discouraging anyone from using this, Ill throw it right back at you what do you know about Naymz? Is this something that has helped you, or that you recommend? How or why? If you are interested in reading more about Naymz, heres some buzz in the blogosphere: Liquid HR writes Naymz.com business model and context Favorite Online Resources writes Naymz Reputation Network Technology Evangelist writes A Stalker Enabled Social Network (note, his argument applies to LinkedIn, too. Read the comments on that post to figure out how to resolve it, if you are concerned (Im not)) Web 2.0 Weblog writes What The Hell Is This Naymz Thing?

Personal Branding Interview Ben Huh - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Personal Branding Interview Ben Huh - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Today, I spoke to Ben Huh, who is the CEO of Pet Holdings, Inc., the company behind the hugely popular blogs I Can Has Cheezburger?, FAIL Blog and others.   In this short but sweet interview, Ben talks to us about I Can Has Cheezburger?, how he got his book deal, how he marketed his website and his personal brand. What gave you the idea for LOL Cats? What was your inspiration to keep it going? I actually didnt start the site, nor did the people who started the site start the lolcats concept. The Internet version of cats with captions started in the infamous 4chan. The very first photograph with captions was actually found in Seattle it was produced in 1905. How did your website turn into a book deal? What made Gotham interested in turning it into a book? A bunch of publishers approached us in 2007. We decided to go with Gotham after a lengthy vetting process. We thought itd be great to provide a portable, IRL companion to the site. When you first started your site, how did you market it? The site begin with just word of mouth. There was no marketing, no coordination, just emails to friends that spiraled (nicely) out of control. What is your take on personal branding and how have you leveraged the popularity of your site to build your career? I actually think Ive done a poor job of personal branding. Thats okay with me since the site is more important than myself. The I Can Has Cheezburger? brand is strong and going well, so I am more than happy to see that. What do you want to be remembered for? Make the world laugh for 5 minutes a day. Ben Huh has always been a start up guy. His latest company, Pet Holdings, has been credited with bringing Internet memes to the mainstream and popularizing Internet culture. Ben founded Pet Holdings, Inc. in 2007 and grew it into one of the largest blog networks in the world in less than two years â€" while making a profit during one of the deepest recessions.     Ben is not shy about crediting the success of his company to the users and fans and those who started the sites he acquired, such as icanhascheezburger.com and failblog.org. His goal is to make the world happy for 5-minutes a day.   Ben graduated with a BSJ from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

Twentysomething Preparing for life without health insurance

Twentysomething Preparing for life without health insurance By Ryan Healy About a month ago, my brother, Dan, was in the hospital. Originally, the doctors told him he had a small cut, and he should use some Neosporin to prevent infection. A couple of days later, they told him he had a staph infection. Staph infections are bad, but for my brother they are especially bad. Dan was born with congenital heart disease, and any type of infection could be life-threatening. My parents hopped in the car and made the 10-hour drive from Connecticut to Columbus, OH. According to my parents, the three days in the Columbus hospital were like a bad episode of House. Nobody knew exactly what was wrong. The infectious disease doctors were in and out of his room every day. Eventually, Dan was released from the hospital. The antibiotics killed the infection before it could spread. Regardless, the whole experience was incredibly scary for all of us. And it really made me nervous to ditch my corporate job with benefits to work at a startup with no health insurance. But my mind was made up and sticking with my job was not an option. So the first thing I did was schedule a physical. I crossed my fingers and went into the doctors office, hoping there was nothing wrong. At first glance I was fine. The doctor than asked if I wanted to have some blood tests done to test for HIV, hepatitis and whatever else they test. It sounded like a good idea at the time, so I strapped in and gave some blood. I regretted the decision immediately. If I tested positive for anything, private health insurance would go from expensive to completely unaffordable. Luckily, everything turned out fine. But you know there is something wrong with the health care system when putting off being tested for a life-threatening disease for a few months is a smart financial option. After the blood tests, the doctor asked if I wanted to have my cholesterol checked. Despite my mother constantly reminding me of my familys high cholesterol, I declined for fear of an unusually high test and in turn, higher future health care costs. Finally, before leaving, I requested a tetanus shot even though I was 99 percent positive that it wasnt necessary. Buying fitted running shoes was next on my list. I try to run four to five times per week and my legs were beginning to bother me. It was definitely time for a new pair of shoes. But a week before you quit your job to pursue something with no immediate stream of income is not a great time to drop $100 on shoes. After some thought, I realized that $100 now could be the only thing saving me from a stress fracture or another common running injury, which could end up saving me thousands in future uninsured medical costs. After doing everything I could think of to prepare for life without insurance, a buddy of mine told me about a program that covers 80 percent of all medical expenses after a $500 deductible for healthy 23-year-old guys. Its certainly not free, but all things considered, its a really good deal. (I plan to actually purchase the plan this week, so if anyone knows of a better deal, please let me know!) Still, Im lucky that I dont have any preexisting medical conditions. Im lucky I am not on any prescription drugs and Im lucky to have tested negative for any diseases. Not everyone will be able to get such a good deal, and thats a big problem. My brother has full intentions of continuing his own business and starting companies for years to come, but he is going to have to take some major risks once he is off of my parents insurance policy. Whether this means purchasing a catastrophic plan, borrowing money or completely going off of insurance, he will figure it out and I will help however I can. Because dropping everything to chase a dream might sound risky, but in my book, working a dead-end job for fear of not having health coverage is much riskier. Ryan Healys blog is Employee Evolution.

The Glitter Factor A Reader Challenge

The Glitter Factor A Reader Challenge “All growth starts at the end of your comfort zone” â€" Tony Robbins   The last two posts I wrote on Ms. Career Girl chronicle  leaving my job in the world of finance for life as a marketing manager at a start-up and balancing a busy life  which was written during a period in which I was working until 9pm most days during the week.  Now its time to reflect. Ive been in my new job as a Community Marketing Manager for YouSwoop.com (one of Chicagos top daily deal sites) for  just over a quarter now.  Its been a fun and exciting ride; one that I often refer to as Entrepreneurship Bootcamp. During the last few months Ive done several things for the first time: I created a detailed quarterly marketing plan, Ive hired and managed people for the first time and  I co-created a street marketing team program (which now has 100 members).  Ive led meetings, trained staff, had tough discussions with team members, created marketing campaigns that werent as successful as I had hoped, made big decisions on how to spend company money and have been held accountable by both our founder and our CEO.  I had never done ANY of this during my 5 years after college.  Not to mention Im hosting my first Ms. Career Girl event  in Chicago at the end of this month which, for me, was terrifying. Is my dream job everything I thought it would be?  Yes.  BUT, just like any job, all that glitters isnt gold: the glitter factor is highly dependent on your attitude. I had the honor of watching a presentation given by Tony Robbins son, Jairek Robbins, last week and he gave some incredible advice.  He asked, Are you living a life of ACTION or REACTION?  He said that successful people are those who are in control of how they feel.  They wake up and say to themselves, today is going to be a great day rather than, I wonder what will happen to me today.  They go into work and have already decided how they will respond to issues before the issues even happen.  They dont let other people effect how they feel.  Reactive people do the opposite, everything they feel is dictated by others. Are you willing to get uncomfortable so you can start growing into your ideal life? If youre stuck in a rut, stop and write down the questions youre asking yourself.  Are you saying things like: Why does this always happen to me? or Why do I hate this so much?  Ask, How can I enjoy what Im doing more? or What is my favorite part of what Im doing?  Shifting the questions you ask yourself automatically shifts your focus.  When you shift your focus, you start thinking about, and maybe even visualizing, your ideal day and your ideal situation.  Once you get a bit of emotion attached to your ideal life, your actions will follow suit and only then is manifestation possible. Today I challenge you to take a step toward increasing YOUR glitter factor.  Choose your attitude and then do something totally uncomfortable today.  Share your uncomfortable action in the comments section and let us know how it felt and what came of it for you.

The Stress of the Being an Economic Refugee Expat - Career Pivot

The Stress of the Being an Economic Refugee Expat - Career Pivot Economic Refugee Expat Since moving to Mexico I have met a lot of what I refer to be Economic Refugee Expats. InvestingAnswers.com states the definition as: Aneconomic refugeeis a person who moves to another country in search of a higher standard of living. These are people who have had their careers completely disrupted for a variety of reasons and do not have enough money or career runway to retire. These economic refugee expats plan to live on their social security. They may need to earn an income, either above the table or below it until they are old enough to qualify for social security. Believe it or not, people are leaving the United States for a higher standard of living. If you have not seen the recent Washington Post article The little-noticed surge across the U.S.-Mexico border: It’s the Americans, heading southread it now. Note: This is part of the How to Move Abroad and Take Your Job With You Series. The Stress Factors I have been quite blessed in my career that I have had the opportunity to work all over the world. I can culturally integrate into most places in the world. Most Americans have never left the country as only 42% of Americans hold passports. If they have visited a foreign country it is as a tourist. There is a HUGE difference between visiting a country versus living there. Moving to a foreign country is stressful and it is even more stressful if you are doing it as an economic refugee. Many of these people move because they have to and not because they want to. What is stressful? How about the following: Listen to the most recent episode Understanding visa rules that may be applied differently at different times and embassy locations Housing options that are available Telephone and Internet options Medical and medication availability Importation of personal property rules Banking and money Transportation Importing Pets On top of all of these things you need to learn, the official documentation is written in a language other than English. As a recovering engineer, I know not to make assumptions about anything. However, when you are stressed, you will make unconscious assumptions at a far greater rate. When we are stressed, we are more likely to make a bad or less than a desirable decision. Example I am going to tell you about Barbara’s story. Barbara is not her real name and is really a composite of several people I have met. Barbara spent most of her life in an area between New York City and Boston. She has both a bachelors and masters degree but it took her almost 20 years to attain both degrees after high school. She did this on her own which means she perseveres which is a good trait of an expat. Barbara is creative and loves the visual arts and music. She never married but raised a son on her own and he is off her payroll. The non-profit sector and public broadcasting are where she spent the majority of her career. The broadcast industry, both for-profit and non-profit is where she made most of her money but that industry has been in decline for years. Barbara was laid off in 2011 and has not worked a steady job since. She has found work as a real estate agent, retail, and a variety of other odd jobs. These last 8 years have been extremely stressful as she has struggled to retain her house while looking for something that will get her to 62 years of age when she could claim social security. Does this sound familiar? There are millions more just like her. She is the poster child of an economic refugee expat. Deciding to Move to Mexico A decade earlier Barbara attended a workshop given by Focus on Mexicoin Ajijic, Mexico only because a friend asked her to accompany her. It was not Barbara’s idea to attend but the seed was planted. At the time, she had a steady job and the economy was good but then the great recession hit. We all know what happened next. In the fall of 2018, Barbara made a visit back to Ajijic and made the decision to pull the plug and move there. What she did not figure into the decision is how long it takes to prepare. Mistakes Made before Moving, and More Stress as an Economic Refugee Let me first tell you that Barbara is a pro with a camera but is not technologically adept. When Barbara decided to leave the U.S. she based her decisions on the advice of many seasoned professionals. She did not go online to verify what she was told and that turned out to cause her a lot of problems. I completely relate as someone who is extremely digitally literate but I am married to someone who is not. My wife is a Luddite and would prefer to never touch technology. She decided to sell her house of 20+ years that was filled with a lot of collectibles and keepsakes. We have experienced downsizing twice, first from our home of 28 years to a condo and then to move to Mexico. This takes a LOT of time. The house sold much faster than she expected and she had to move her stuff out quickly. Moved Her Stuff to Mexico Being in a rush Barbara decided to move all of her “stuff” to Mexico. She ended up moving a lot of furniture and other “stuff” to Mexico only to dispose of it there because she did not have space. All of the expat books I read said do not bring your “stuff” to the new country. You will have to pay a fortune to move it. The odds of it being damaged or disappearing in transit is high. Lastly, you will likely not have space for your “stuff”. Being in a hurry and not sure what else to do, she caused herself a lot of stress about her decision. The Visa Conundrum Based on the recommendation of an immigration lawyer Barbara applied for a Permanent Resident Visa. She was told to apply for this kind of visa because she wanted to work in Mexico. She applied but was rejected because she did not have the financial resources to qualify. In fact, she was not even close. (This is extremely common). If you listen to my interview with Queen Michele, you will hear that she qualified for a Permanent Resident Visa and she did not have the financial resources. She later applied for a Temporary Resident Visa and prepared to move. The vast majority of people who move to Mexico apply for the Temporary Resident Visa for financial reasons or because they want to bring in a vehicle. I explain this in the podcastThe Millers Go Back to Austin and Start the Resident Visa Process. She qualified for a Temporary Resident Visa and received the appropriate paperwork to turn in, when she arrived in Mexico, to complete the process. You must follow the process exactly or the need to start all over in your country of origin. Barbara leaves for the Mexican border in her car with her cat and dog. She arrives at the border in Laredo, Texas and crossed one of the many bridges in Laredo. The Mexican side of the bridge has a nothing to declare line that she enters. She is waved on. She is now in Mexico and no one has looked at her passport. There are thousands of people who cross the border every day to work or to shop. If you stay within 20 miles of the border you do not need to process through immigration. Barbara just drove on and was stopped at the 20-mile checkpoint. This is where everything went wrong. Return to the Border but Where? Barbara is one of many people I have met who made the same mistake. I have met people who got through the 20-mile mark only to be stopped hundreds of miles later and told to return to the border. The next problem was Barbara spoke little Spanish and the police spoke no English. No problem, she would call her friend who spoke Spanish but her smartphone did not work in Mexico. She was assured it would work by her phone company but …. it did not. Barbara did not know where to go so she drove back to Laredo and crossed back into the US. The FMM Card The next morning she crosses into Mexico and goes to the IMM office in Nuevo Laredo to start the next step in the visa process. She fills out the FMM immigration card just like she did when she flew in previously. This is a HUGE mistake and a mistake that has created havoc for many. She also paid for a temporary import permit for her car and paid a bit more than $400 deposit. This is refundable when she takes the car out of the country. She now has 30 days to complete the immigration process. When she goes to the immigration office in Chapala, Mexico, which is the equivalent of the county seat, she is told that her FMM card is invalid. She will need to return to the U.S. within the next 6 months and start all over. Conflicting Information Barbara, who has signed on with a real estate firm, gets many conflicting opinions on how to get this fixed. She goes to Guadalajara, Mexican immigration office and they tell her she needs to go back to the border. She takes the bus back to Laredo and spends 30 hours on a bus, it did not fix the problem. Next, she flew to Tijuana, Mexico because she was told that going to the immigration office at the border was the only way to fix it. Flights to Tijuana on any one of the discount Mexican airlines are pretty inexpensive. In fact, many economic refugee expats fly back to Tijuana every 6 months, take a taxi to the border, walk across into the U.S., spend the night and return the next day to fly back. Tourist visas are good for 6 months. When I last talked to Barbara she is hopeful this will get resolved. Stress Reduction Barbara has been under a LOT of stress going through this process. I have stated many times that when we are in stress we tend to make lousy decisions. Since arriving in Ajijic Barbara is subletting part of a house from a local artist. Her housemate is very supportive which is critical. She has also found a bunch of expats and locals who are helping her both from an emotional and professional perspective. This is critical to reducing stress. Barbara has one critical aspect about herself and that is perseverance. Through all of this, she has not given up. Conclusion â€" What does it take to be a successful economic refugee expat? You have to be willing to dig, dig and dig some more for information from both professionals, current expats and online resources. I have found blogs and FaceBook groups to be THE most valuable resources. For those of you who disdain FaceBook, and I know there are a bunch of you out there, suck it up and learn how to use it. Plan on bringing very little with you other than your smartphones and computers. Let go of your “stuff”. Have a budget and stick to it. When my wife and I came on our initial visits we worked living like a local and not like a tourist. We have done very few touristy things since we have been here. This has allowed us to understand the real costs of living in Mexico. Test drive the location you think you want to move to. Come for a week. If you like it come back for a month. If you still like it come back for 3 months. You are then able to determine whether it is right for you and your budget. Have I scared you off from moving to Mexico? I hope not but I did want to give you a dose of reality. Marc Miller Like what you just read? Share it with your friends using the buttons above. Like What You Read? Get Career Pivot Insights! 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Free to learn - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Free to learn - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog I recently attended some very different training. I?m used to going to highly technical Java training, to portal seminars and to IT seminars, but over the last couple of years I?ve tried some different stuff. And it has been great. Not only have I learned stuff that?s way different from what I normally learned, but I?ve also learned something new about learning itself. How different was this training? Well, I started out with a week-long leadership course. Then a 3-day course in general consulting skills, and a 2-day course in conflict management. Then it got really weird. Over the last 6 months I?ve been to : * A one-week course in modern dance (yes, the stuff where you roll around on the floor a lot) * A 1-day course in painting (I painted a still life of a book, a boot and a banana) * Evening classes in creative writing (I?ve written a great short story) All of this is way new to me, and I learned something very interesting. Since I had no experience whatsoever in any of these fields, I was totally free to simply learn. I had no expectations that I would be good or bad at it. I could simply try it, and see what happened. This gave me a freedom to experiment, which allowed me to learn a lot more. It also made the process a lot more fun. The painting-class was especially interesting. I?v always told myself that I can?t draw, and I certainly can?t paint. Before the class started, I actively tried to rid myself of that idea, and it worked to some degree. I could even use the fact that I have no experience. I told myself that ?I?ve never painted a single picture in my life, so I?m free to do really badly?. This gave me a tremendous freedom in that class. And my picture turned out to be really good! Normally when I attend training, I subconsciously compete to be the best. I want to be the cleverest and the fastest learner present. It?s a trait that?s been implanted in me since my school days. And which is only exacerbated in higher education. This means that I can take few risks. It also means there?s less time to enjoy the learning. Ultimately, less learning takes place. So what I?ve learned is, that when I took the pressure and expectations out of the learning process, I had more fun and learned more. And this is probably true for everyone. If you want, try it yourself the next time you attend some form of training. Consciously rid yourself of any expectations you may have for the training. Try to get rid of the idea that you will either do well or badly. Simply do the best you can, and see how you do. I think you?ll compete less, learn faster, and have a lot more fun. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

The Best Way to Create Your Own Resume

The Best Way to Create Your Own ResumeIn fact, in this digital age, one of the most essential things that you must do is to upload resume online. What many people don't realize is that you can actually perform an automatic job search if you know how to find relevant resume sources. If you are finding it hard to find resume resources that fit your needs and that you are comfortable with, then you need to continue reading.Most people use job application sites such as Monster.com, Elance.com, and Guru.com to find resumes. However, the downside of using these sites is that you will have to get at least a few hundred resumes, which is quite a lot of time to waste. You would have to spend hours, sometimes days, on your search if you are just looking for one resume. The best thing you can do is to find free resume directories that can give you hundreds of resumes.When it comes to the free resources, make sure that you check their authenticity before you start uploading resumes. If you are r eally interested in receiving resumes from top companies, then you should search out these websites and source them from credible directories. Besides the fact that these directories have thousands of resumes available, they also provide you the chance to scan through them and do your own research if you want to.The resume listing you see here can be considered as a template for you to create your own resume. These listings are only there for your convenience, so you can change their formatting or add your own thoughts. The only thing you should keep in mind is that they should be free of charge. If they charge you for these listings, you will not be able to use them unless you pay for them.If you already have a resume that you want to upload, you can simply copy-paste your resume here and continue. It will be easier for you to do this if you write your resume in a fresh language.It is also a good idea to get a resume that has a summary and bullet points. They help you understand wh at you are going to say and what the job does for you. You can also make use of the checklist that appears after you have completed a section.In fact, the last section of the resume should include some contact information such as phone number, e-mail address, and a home address. The contact information that you put here should always be accurate and up to date.Uploading your resume is not difficult. All you need to do is to use the resource list and don't forget to add your contact information. You can make use of these tips to get started today.