The 7 Engagement Levels of E-commerce

 In order to truly develop your e-commerce or business website, there are components that need to be fully developed and optimized to ensure the best possible user experience while on your site. If all of the following 7 levels of customer experience are well developed and navigated by users on your site, you will maximize conversion rates and returning customers.   

Level 1. Website Entrance   

This may sound like an overly obvious component of user experience – I mean, duh, right? You can’t do anything else without first entering a website. Remember, though, there are different ways to enter a website. Not every user enters a site through the homepage, nor does everyone enter a site with the same intention. Some are looking for information only, and some are looking to buy. As simple as this level of e-commerce sounds, it is one that many websites get wrong. 

Here are a few common mistakes:   

Too much written content 

Few people would read all this without being paid to

 Too much visual content and not enough written 

I have no idea what you call this

Ugh, it’s like the world’s ugliest pop-up ads threw up all over the page.   

 Weak landing pages that sell too hard - or have no call to action. Imagine the basic formula for a new breakthrough weight loss product: paragraph after paragraph of sales pitch screaming at you with 8 exclamation points at the end of each sentence as you scroll down one very long single page, which inevitably includes 15 “testimonials,” yellow-highlighted paragraphs, and 50 places to “click here” to fork over your credit card.  

Like this one: 

What NOT to do on your landing page

Unclear navigation –  or worse, an unclear purpose, demonstrated brilliantly in the example below. 

What are you supposed to do here?

 Not only is it unclear exactly what this website is about, but the giant “Imprint” logo button at the bottom .. a link, maybe? Nope – its actually just the contact email. Two of the four tabs read “Glass Foils” and “Matte Foils” – if you know what either one means, hats off to you. And what about that “Homepage” tab? Isn’t THIS the homepage??  

Level 2. Browse 

 Some may argue that this stage of CEL (customer experience level) is the most crucial. If the customer doesn’t find anything that sparks interest, satisfies information-seeking, or entertains, they will leave. This is why browsing experience for visitors must offer value in every way possible, even if it does not immediately lead to a conversion.         

Level 3. Shop     

 Others would argue that Shopping is the most important stage of CEL, because it is what determines the value of the conversion. Shopping must be navigated easily, with things such as “add to cart,” item descriptions, availability, pricing and the like – all being readily available and easily identified by the website customer. Any major interruption, malfunction, or unavailable necessary information can easily lead to the shopper exiting the site and disrupting the check-out process.    

Level 4. Purchase     

 The conversion ultimately happens here, and can be the purchase of products or services. For the purchase of services, it is even more important that the purchase process is accompanied by available customer service and human contact options. It is going to be off-putting to any website customer who has just paid a hefty retainer fee for business services, to only have automated messages, responses, and emails as points-of-contact. Not to mention, it can easily make a customer feel uneasy not to have any kind of humanized interaction or confirmation after purchasing services. Customer service is extremely important, both during and after the purchase process.     

Level 5. Register     

 This stage can happen before or after the purchase process, depending upon how the website is set up. Many websites give the option to register after a purchase, some require it preceding a purchase – and some allow for guest or visitor purchases (most websites should do this, if at all possible, in order to maximize conversion rates). Page loading times can be critical in this stage of CEL. Site visitors get easily annoyed and will exit a site in the middle of registration if page downloads are stalled, or if web forms do not function properly. It has happened to all of us, at some point, when all information on a web form is filled out, and for whatever reason, the web page gets stuck and refuses to move on to the next step in the process, or confirm registration.     

Level 6. Get Support     

 This stage of CEL goes hand in hand with customer service. Not all conversions and website purchases or customers will seek out customer support – but if it isn’t there when they need it, you’ve probably lost a returning customer. Even if it is to handle a complaint, allowing an upset customer to vent over the phone at your CSRs is better than reporting your business to the BBB, or having several bad reviews written.     

Level 7. Participate     

 This is often the most difficult for businesses and e-commerce to get their customers to do. Even customers pleased with products or services do not want to take time to fill out a survey, respond to satisfaction email questionnaires, or even comment on the company blog page. This is why it is so important to use social media in this day and age. Participation with a business website or e-commerce is done much more easily with the use of social media. It’s also a fantastic multi-tasking tool, serving other highly useful business strategies and goals, such as branding awareness and micro-marketing. 

 Related articles 

• Best Practices Improve Customer Experiences (ghazzpro.wordpress.com)
• Disambiguity: Customer Experience vs. User Experience (usabilitycounts.com)
• Online Checkout: A Huge Market for Customer Experience Improvement (customerthink.com)

“Wiki” in various languages

Globalization is key for any kind of significant business expansion online - and it isn’t something just for large corporations and companies.  Small businesses can reach out to international audiences as well, with the simple use of professional translation and localization services.  

 In a recent survey conducted by Forrester Research, there are several fallacies that a lot business owners who have never used professional translation and localization services have about this industry.   

False Notions About Acquiring Professional Translation and Localization

•  
  • It’s not secure enough for protected information

 Aside from the fact that most agencies and companies offering professional localization and translation services, most international companies trust several different translation and localization companies enough to provide them with various documents that have sensitive information.  If these businesses made a habit of selling or distributing their clients’ information, they wouldn’t be in business very long.  They are professionals just like any other business service, and have codes by which they adhere to. 

•  
  • It’s not fast enough
 



Why you should never use automated translation in public

Because of the idea that translation should be immediately or instantly available due to shoddy automated translations, businesses sometimes expect that professional translation and localization should be available on demand.  However, in order for a translation to be accurate, professional and useful, this is just not realistic.  Automated translation sites cannot be used as a reference point of comparison, because the translations they deliver are convoluted and non-sensical.  No business website that uses a Google Translate API is going to increase its conversion rates.  Automated computer translation does not provide accurate translation of a website, and certainly cannot provide localization.    

Furthermore, most translation services offer urgent or rush order translation services, when applicable. While something like the complete localization of a video game is not something that can be done in an hour, a basic document translation can be.  If it is a matter of translating your website from English to French, most translation services can have this delivered in about an hour or so upon request.  

  

•  
  •  It’s not affordable enough

This idea is another commonly held belief, especially  by small business owners who think they can’t afford to open their website to a global audience.  However, many smaller translation companies online offer extremely affordable rates.  A straightforward web content translation of 1,000 words can be done for less than $40, depending upon the target language and the translation service.  At that rate, an entire website could conceivably be completely translated for under $150.  When you consider the kind of return that type of small investment can bring by globalizing a website, it is definitely worth it.  Especially when you consider that research has proven that non-English speaking buyers are 5 times more likely to purchase from a website that offers information in their native language. 

•  
  • I don’t know where to start or where to get translation services from

There is an overwhelming selection when it comes to online translation and localization agencies.  The best way to start narrowing your options down is to conduct searches for specific types of translation or localization services.  Rather than simply searching for “professional translation” or “Spanish translation,” use more specific search terms like “professional website translation” or “mobile app localization.”  If you are interested more in a specific language translation, then use searches like “professional English to French translation” or “professional French translation service.”  This will eliminate all the automated sites that pop up, and will also produce results of companies who specialize in the searches you are looking for. 

  Once you have a list language service providers who offer what you are looking for, you can further narrow your selection by comparing rates.  Just about every language service provider website offers free, instant quotes, which makes this process easy and painless.  These things will help you decide what services to start with, in order to begin globalizing your business website. You don’t have to be a Fortune 1000 company to “go global” with your business, products or services.  Many small businesses have found that once they open up to foreign language markets, much of their ROI comes from non-U.S. based customers and clients.  This is true not only for product-based and e-commerce sites, but for businesses who offer consulting, marketing, legal advice, or any other business service.     

•  

  What Countries Should I Focus Upon When Globalizing My Website?  

  

  European countries map with Spanish to French translation

   

   The answer to this is somewhat dependent upon the business itself and your original target market.  There will be regions that are much more optimal for globalized efforts than others.  As a starting reference however, there is commonly held acronym in the globalization and internationalization industry known as BRIC, which stands for: 

•  
  •  
    • Brazil
    • Russia
    • India
    • China

   

These countries are the top four regions with the fastest and largest growing economies driven by a young, thriving populous.  Many businesses use these top four as the focal regions of globalization efforts.  Then there are five more regions that are runners-up, so to speak, insofar as economy growth, which is known as CIVET, which stands for Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt and Turkey.   These may or may not be ideal for your initial target markets, but it provides a good basis for research, and where to start looking for the best sources of global consumerism for your particular trade or industry.     

 For most U.S. websites, Spanish translation is often a good idea as well, since there are so many Spanish speaking populations and nearby economies that fall under this target language.  It is important to do your research before having translation and localization services, so that you can get the best return on your small business globalization investments.   

•  

  Related articles

•  Webinar Replay: 5 Secrets to Success for Localizing your Website (cloudwords.com)

 

• 5 Benefits to Having Your Blog Speak a Foreign Language (famousbloggers.net)

 

• Malaysian eye poked over Google Translate Fail (theamotimes.com)     

 



 

    

One of the most common questions asked from community members is “How Do I Become a Freelancer? Where can I find jobs?”

 This question is likely so commonly asked because, for freelancers - there is no set course which we can start upon, or any kind of blueprint for success. And, consequently, because there IS no syllabus for building a freelance career, those who are looking at it from the outside tend to romanticize it, and want to know how to join the party. Those who have gone ahead and made the recent jump to a work-at-home, self-reliant, 1099-form lifestyle are often suddenly hit with a new and alarming realization that there is no “manager” or franchise operation that will outline and “book” the amount of work/pay it will take for them to be able to eat this month. So what do these panicking newbies do?  (After they grab their asthma inhaler or emergency tape of deep-breathing meditative yoga.)  They frantically beg the writers and professionals of every vaguely popular blog to reveal all their “trade secrets” – it’s a matter of imminent starvation, after all.

They soon realize that no matter how wise (and gracious) the bloggers’ replies may be, nothing in any reply can really quell the initial (and sometimes on-going) worries about 1. How, where, and from whom do I find work…. ever? and 2. How do I make someone pay me enough money for my work? and sometimes, even 3. How can I be sure I’ll be paid at all? What if I get ripped off? These questions run through the freelancing novice’s mind. And, sure enough, if you check out a prominent blog by a freelancing professional, there are bound to be at least half a dozen comments and/or questions related something close to: ”I just started freelancing – please tell me what to do!!”

Last time I checked, MIT didn’t offer a master’s program in Freelance SEO services, or Work-from-home Web Design. Anyone can wake up one day and say, “okay, now I’m a freelancer” – in whatever industry or field they want. However, whether or not those same people will, in a couple years, be very happy for choosing a freelancing life, or rummaging through every cupboard for the last bag of stale pretzels - well, that depends on at least several things.

Becoming a Freelancer: Finding Freelance Jobs

The first thing anyone should know about freelancing is that it is not a get-rich-quick plan, or even a “I-really-really-hate-my-boss-so-I’m-gonna-tell-him-to-shove-this-job-up-his-@&%$!!-and-start-freelancing-tomorrow-and-be-financially-independent-with-all-the-freedom-in-the-world.” If this is your idea of how freelancing works – well, you may hate your boss, but unless you want to be eating relish packets from the hot dog stand next month, don’t quit your job just yet.

Freelance jobs come in many, many forms. There are freelance translators, freelance writers, freelance SEO and website content managers, IT and computer tech freelancers, software designers, website developers and website designers, consulting services – to name just a few of the possibilities. Obviously, if you do not already possess some fairly marketable skills in website design or translating, you cannot expect to acquire freelance work in these industries. Despite what you may read online, or what you may glean from various online sources, you can no more become a successful freelance writer or SEO content manager if you do not have knowledge, skills and training in these areas. Just because one might have the ability to write words down, does not make him or her a professional writer, and the same applies to SEO and website content. There are quality standards that clients expect from a freelancer.

Many beginning freelancers start out through job marketplace websites, such as MyServiceConnection. While MSC is the only website with a totally comprehensive job marketplace, covering almost all industries of work, most other freelance marketplace sites are more industry-specific. For example, translation work can be found on many different translation job databases and marketplaces, such as huge, well known sites like Proz.com, to smaller, privately owned company sites that may focus on just a few categories like French translation, document translation, or IT translation.  But, translation work can also be found in arts & technology marketplaces, such as Freelancer.com and Guru. Then there are job marketplaces which cover web design, web development, software design, and other areas of technical and/or IT skills, such as Rent-a-Coder.

Others may put a bit more financial investment into starting up a freelancing career, and have their own professional website created, through which they obtain direct clients. While this is less common, and may take some time to build up steady clientele, it is usually more stable, and allows much more control over freelance income. As a freelance service provider who has direct clients, once you become established, you essentially run your own business.

 Freelancing can take a lot of time to turn into a productive, lucrative choice of income. How long? It depends upon many things. Such as..? Well, let’s list a few off, just to give us starting point. And because everyone loves a good blog list.

Factors that Impact Freelance Work

1. What your freelance services are -  Are you a web designer? A business consultant? Internet marketer? Writer? Translator? These industries are worlds apart in regards to the value that’s placed upon a single service provider.

2. Are you cut out for freelancing? – Just because you want to freelance, doesn’t mean you should. Working for yourself by working for clients means you need to be

a. DISCIPLINED

b. Committed

c. Hard-working (even harder-working than you felt like under your ogre boss)

d. Customer-service oriented

e. Good with time management

f. Willing to work for less than you think you’re worth (at least at first)

g. Organized

(and that’s just a starting list of characteristics - knowing how, where and to whom to market your services also makes an enormous difference)

3. Do you have the resources to freelance?  – If you want to start freelance translating, than you should have some type of MT software or program.  If you’re a video and web editor, than you should have a full-fledged Adobe design suite, and so on.  If you are going to provide admin services, than you’ll need to have a copy/fax machine, at least a double phone line, and other pertinent office supplies.  You get the idea.  Don’t expect to be hired to build a house if you don’t have any tools.

4. Do you have the time (and/0r the money)?  – Earlier I advised people who hate their boss not to quit their job to take up freelancing - but the same applies even if you love your boss but want to quit anyway.  It is extremely rare for anyone who starts out freelancing to do well enough to make it a sole means of income, within the first several months.  It takes time to build up clientele, or to find steady sources of work.  Some industries are intrinsically more lucrative and easier than others, but are also over-run with competition (i.e. web design).  If you’re an IT genius, you shouldn’t have too much trouble after several months; sometimes even sooner.  If you’re a translator, or even more challenging, a freelance writer – it can take anywhere from six months to a few years to acquire clients and/or steady workflow and income.

There are a lot of other industry-specific factors that determine the success of a freelance career.  In general, though, simply know what you’re getting into before you get into it.  Be prepared, be well-equipped, well-informed, and have at least some idea of where to find work within your freelancing niche.  Here are some general suggestions for a few common freelancing and outsourcing industries:

Translators and Translation jobs:

Proz.com, Trally.com, Tomedes.com

Writers, Beginner Techies, Technical Writers, SEO Writers:

Freelancer.com, Guru.com, Elance.com, oDesk.com  

Intermediate to Advanced Techies:

Rent-a-Coder, Find-a-Coder, Peopleperhour.com

.

.

Most global outsourcing job marketplace sites, where freelancers, outsourcers and other work-at-home individuals often find jobs, operate very similarly. A few specifics here and there may be different, such as how membership fees are set up, methods and allowable number of job bids or job bidding costs, reward system for successful members – and so on. However, the vast majority of job marketplace sites follow the same kind of set-up:

1. Join/pay membership fee

2. Look through job listings

3. Submit proposal & job bid/job bidding cost (usually in form of bid deduction)

4. Get hired via site

5. Complete and submit work

6. Get paid via site.

7. Repeat all steps

Given that most of these marketplaces follow this recipe, here’s a quick review of the pros and cons of the freelancing & job marketplace sites available outside MyServiceConnection.

Pros

1. High availability and number of freelance jobs and projects – Established job marketplace sites generally have pages and pages of listed jobs. The advantage to this is that because there are so many, freelancers have their pick of which jobs to apply to/bid on.

2. Payment is usually insured in some way through the site – Often these sites have escrows set up, in which payment is made by the client into the escrow, and then released to the service provider once the job is completed and approved.

3. Outsourcing globally – Most job marketplaces allow for project hire and outsourcing from anyone in the world, which increases amount and availability of work.

4.  Freedom to pick from job listings; Work at your own discretion – Because of high availability, constant outsourcing and new job listings, freelancers have the freedom to pick and choose, and to work at their own discretion. If you are lucky enough to establish regular clients and/or a good balance as a freelancer between obtaining work, working, and time to yourself – well, kudos!

5. Service provider profiles and portfolio showcasing – Profiles often create advantages such as keyword-based searches, portfolios with examples of work and skill areas, and yet more chances to set yourself apart as a desirable hire.

Cons

1.  High competition – Certain industries are much more over-served than others, but while large established marketplace sites have high availability of freelance work, they can also have three times as many freelancers, all competing for the same jobs. The more desirable a freelance project or job listing, the more competitors to contend with. Often this results in proposals being buried in the long list of others just like it. When I used to find work through freelance marketplaces, if a particular job listing had more than 35-40 proposals, I didn’t even bother submitting one.

2. Fees and Membership Costs – All job marketplaces have fees and costs of allowing you to find work through their site – that is how they make their money and stay in business. The most popular freelancing marketplace sites charge a regular membership fee, regardless of whether you find work or not, in addition to a commission percentage of your earnings. Some rates are better than others, and some smaller sites may not charge a membership fee, but their commission percentages are then usually higher.

3. Job Bidding and Bid Costs – Most sites include a certain amount of “bids” with membership fees. The more that is paid for a membership (sometimes additional bids can be bought for less money than the next membership grade) – the more bids allotted to the member – which means more job opportunities. Every time a bid is submitted, it is deducted from your overall allotment. When you run out of bids without being hired or selected for a job, you must either purchase more bids, or wait until bids rollover from new membership payment. Nevertheless, when you run out of bids without being hired, and have no choice but to fork over more money without any kind of guarantee – it never feels very fair.

4.  Preferential treatment to freelancers and businesses that earn the most money (and consequently make more money for the site) – In the real world, people are hired for their skills, experience and credentials. Jobs and job advancements are rewarded through hard work and dedication; they are not given to the highest bidder. However, almost all freelance marketplace sites give preferential treatment to the service providers that make the most money. They are charged lower commissions; they are spotlighted and showcased on the site; their proposals are pushed to the top of the list; they are found first in search results for their keywords, and so on. This also, is quite unfair to the individual hard-working freelancer, who, no matter how accomplished he or she is, cannot realistically earn the same figures as a freelancing company or firm.

5.  Freelancers Must Constantly Be Looking for Work – While one of the above “pros” was that freelancers can pick and choose the jobs they want to bid on, and how often, it is much more common or realistic for a freelancer to constantly be on the prowl for work. Because freelance projects and outsourcing jobs are almost always short term, and paid at low rates, (even long term work usually means 6 months or less), even when a freelancer is working on one or two projects, he or she must simultaneously be looking to book the next one, to prevent long gaps without income.

What Makes MyServiceConnection Different?

MyServiceConnection, admittedly, has some of the same components and working modules as some of these other marketplaces, but with some very important improvements:

1.  It’s free to join or list a job.

2.  Free job bidding - always. No limits, no exceptions.

3.  Only pay us if and when you are paid: a small 10% commission. If you get $100, we get $10. Not a bad trade-off.

4.  Neutrality: There are no special rewards, spotlights, or discounts given to those who earn the most money. Freelancers and service providers are service-rated only by those who hire them, and are not “recommended” by MSC itself, nor showcased in any way.

5.  Job opportunities include many permanent positions – depending upon what you are looking for or hired for, MyServiceConnection may be the last job marketplace you’ll ever need to find a job.

On the other hand, there are more and more families and shelters and centers who are on that “in need” list that churches hand out to members.  Just as many holiday shoppers were carefully, fearfully conservative this year.  You could hear them counting up the price totals of shopping cart contents out loud, in the aisles of Wal-mart or Macys, to ensure they stayed within their careful budgets, and financial apprehension looming over them like a stormcloud, ready to burst open and rain down economical calamity and ruin.

In reality, lists of the needy and fearfully apprehensive shoppers with tight budgets have always been there.  Maybe some of us even qualify for that infamous church list (though we’d never admit it) or heavily identify as one of those counting up prices aloud in department store aisles.  But we always notice those with less than us more, during the holiday season.  The Scrooge in all of us takes over for the rest of the year, until the holidays roll around, and then suddenly everyone is full of charitable empathy. 

But it is not empathy that we desperately need.  Whether it is the holiday season or not, what we all need is 100 new jobs and factory positions at the local plant.  Or 50 construction workers commissioned by the city to build a new local government office building, 10 new jobs in copywriting  for the local newspaper, and 200 truck driving positions at a distribution company that won’t lay them all off 20 minutes later.  We need companies to outsource American freelancers first, and then Indonesia and India.  We need corporate senior boards to stop giving themselves hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonuses and vacations from bail-out money, which should be used to reduce the debt burden of lower income and unemployed homeowners.  Most of all, we need change.  What has been tried and done  - has failed.

Before we rely too much on these things that may or may not happen when and how we need them to happen, perhaps proactively obtaining self-employment, or seeking out employment we control, is the practical solution. Using resources like myServiceConnection – is change that can occur immediately.  We don’t have to sit and wait for that perfect job in the newspaper, or send our resume for the 147th time, to another employer listed on MonsterJobs or Craigslist.  With a global service marketplace (myServiceConnection) – once it is totally populated and grown to full potential - there will always be work available, and there will always be customers, buyers and clients that need services.  This is is part of a real, viable solution well within our reach – but more importantly, well within our control.

Happy Holidays to all. 

Image Source Page: http://www.foundation4life.org/en/building-a-difference/united-states.aspx

HVACNews recently posted a blog on their site that also reinforced this idea.  Johnson Controls, #14 of the U.S. top 500 corporations, was recently named Top Company in Green Rankings by Newsweek.  For a big fat corporation like Johnson Controls, whose history dates back to the invention of the first electric thermostat – receiving this kind of status in the Green business industry takes a lot of dedication and committment to being eco-friendly.  Staying gregariously green amidst every employee and in every facet, reach, branch, and sub-division of the corporation – is no small task.  Just think about how much effort would need to be put into the administrative side alone, for a giant like Johnson Controls – in order to be named the Top Ranking Green Company.   They would have to be – and are, apparently – careful about their eco-friendliness on all levels.  With 130,000 employees – that’s some hella committment. 

 Newsweek didn’t just pull out a few website rankings or look at a few datasheets to rate them, either.  They joined up with some pretty serious Green Energy groups and researchers to rank companies on things like performance, company policies, protocols and reputation (HVACNews.com).

So what’s my point here?  Why do we care whether Johnson Controls, maker of energy-efficient automotive batteries, auto interiors and other energy products, systems and services – was awarded this Green energy status?  Well, simply put, it’s a huge example of just how important eco-friendly, green efforts by any business, has become.  Let’s put this in allegorical format.

A guy named Tom has a small Home and Commercial remodeling and repair services business, with 4 employees.  He bids on a remodeling project, posted by Mr. Potential Customer on myServiceConnection.  The awarded job comes down to two providers: Tom’s business and one other remodeling business, by the name of Green Paint, LLC.  Mr. Potential Customer will award the very handsomely paying project based upon some further questions he’ll use to evaluate them.  One of the things Mr. Potential Customer asks is, ” Just out of curiousity, what do you do with the old paint that you scrape off before you re-paint the walls?”  Tom answers: Oh we have a weekly drop-off at a land-fill, which is where we get rid of most of our junk and scraps left-over from jobs we do.  Then Green Paint LLC responds: The paint we scrape off is recycled into latex-based materials; all handled by a company that specializes in green re-usage of industrial, trade and labor scraps and waste.”  As it turns out, environmental responsibility is pretty important to Mr. Potential Customer, especially in regards to things like turpentine, paint thinner, and other materials with potentially toxic fumes and by-products. 

Emphasizing eco-friendliness in your Home & Commercial services certainly won’t work against you, so why not start incorporating more of a green attitude?  Sure, it does take a bit more effort; more conscientiousness about what you throw away, and yes – you will have to occasionally go out of your way to dispose of waste in a green-responsible manner.  But doing so is not only more and more crucial to the world we live in, but beneficial to your business reputation.  Environmental responsibility has become a staple civil duty for everyone.  It just might clinch your next job, too.

 sources cited

www.HVACNews.com.  Johnson Controls, 10/21/10. Blog. 12/17/10.

photo source: activerain.com

When you first meet someone new, whether introduced through a mutual friend or someone you happen to meet while you’re out at a social function, it would be peculiar to you if the conversation went like this:

“Sally, this is David.  He is the guy who recently moved here that I was telling you about, and he also works at home like me.”

“Nevermind any of that.  First of all, I’ve been a skier for 15 years, and can ski any black slope there is.  So if you ever want to go skiing, I’ll be way better than anyone else, and you’ll want me as your teacher…”

Not only would this be ridiculous and annoyingly self-absorbed, but Sally has not even considered whether David gives a hoot about skiing, or that she is a pro skier – maybe he has no interest in skiing at all.  This same approach is true when you are composing a proposal for a buyer.  Just like submitting a cover letter or a resume objective is often required for application when you find a job, so is an introduction to a project proposal needed – like a kind of mini-objective or statement of purpose on a job resume or cover letter.  The job proposal introduction should communicate that you understand the buyer’s needs, and what business services he is seeking.  It should not jump right into how or why you are the best one for the job.

Identify with the Buyer or Customer

While there is no one right way to write an introduction, it does not have to be long or involved.  Just be sure to gradually transition to the body of the proposal with an appropriate introduction.  Here’s a brief example:

Hello, and thank you for posting the job - Judging from your description, you need a French translator who has had experience translating technical engineering documents, and one who also thoroughly understands differences between English and French cultures.

Here’s a brief example of a bad introduction or proposal start: 

Hi.  I’m extremely qualified for this project because I just finished an engineering manual translation from English to French for a Parisian distributor. 

While the second introduction may be appropriate in tone – or even somewhere later in the project proposal – it does not address the fact that you have read and understood what it is that the consumer or customer needs.  Rushing into the job proposal with the assumption that your qualifications are exactly what the customer needs, may be off-putting to him.  Even more so if you have misunderstood the consumer’s perspective, or wrongly assumed the most important qualification he is seeking from a service provider.

Focus on the Customer/Buyer – Not Yourself

Make sure your introduction is polite and concise, but mostly importantly, acknowledge that you understand the buyer’s need - whether it is technical French translation, or legal consulting for liability clauses.  The primary purpose of the proposal introduction should always be focused upon the buyer and what business services he needs – not what a good service provider you are, or why you are most qualified. 

If you stick to this basic approach, more often than not you’ll get off on the right foot with your buyer.  Avoid being a “Sally the Skier” in your intro.  Any regular person would want to throw their glass of water on someone like her.

The Manpower research decidedly shows that skilled tradesmen are a major shortage in many of the biggest of economies, including the U.S., Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Brazil, and more.  Employers in all of these areas bemoaned the fact that filling skilled trade positions to keep their piece of the industry up and running, has been the single most difficult part of the overall past work year(s).  While Manpower’s insight on this problem focused on using selective migration to alleviate worker gaps – ultimately to allow economies both nationally and globally to establish growth and gain – a lot of Americans would probably be up in arms over the idea that migration is being used to fill empty jobs, when our unemployment rate is reaching awful new heighths.  And really – why wouldn’t we stomp our foot at this idea?  What’s wrong with using Americans to fill these jobs? 

Well, number one is that no one is applying to them – which is why the gap is there to begin with.  There are fewer and fewer qualified skilled trade workers for plants and factories; industries in transportation, power, fuel, and many others.  Oh yes - just in case anyone is wondering what I mean by “skilled trade worker” – as you’ve probably figured, it is synonymous to blue-collar worker.  Maybe now you can understand why these jobs aren’t being fought over by Americans, Germans, French, Italians, Japanese, etc.  Manpower noted that fewer than 1 in every 3 fifteen year olds do NOT envision themselves as even a highly skilled trade worker in adulthood. 

Snobbery, in a word, has earned us this hole in skilled trade provision.  College education is rammed down our throats from our first years in elementary school.  We’re beat over the head with the idea that those who don’t attend college are destined to become these lowly blue-collar workers, slaving away until an early death takes us, coughing up the soot we’ve breathed in for 25 years, and dirt still under our fingernails. 

However stupid it may be, many of us assume the 19th century industrial London version of blue collar, skilled trade workers: dirty-faced children in rags begging for a tuppence, wives in the kitchen sweating over a pot of thin soup for a family of 10, men who work 18 hours a day, 7 days a week for pennies.  These stereotypical associations with blue collar jobs are so antiquated and ridiculous that they couldn’t be more wrong if we thought the same thing about the life of a chiropractor.   Yet, most of us continue to believe that only a college education – followed by a job that is earned by an academically achieved degree – is the only “correct” path to American dream-hood. 

 If college education is really our savior of secured futures and successful careers – why are so many college graduates finding the job market to be more like a graveyard?  Why are so many with master’s degrees forced to be under-employed?  It seems to me that if skilled trade jobs are at such a shortage, that those who hold them certainly aren’t in danger of losing them – which is a lot more than can be said for millions of people with college degrees.

Skilled trades and blue collar jobs can pay anywhere from $25 – $50/hr; maybe even more.  When college graduates are working as pizza delivery drivers and master’s degree holders are working as tutors - $40/hr. doesn’t sound too shabby.  It’s more than I’ve ever made on a regular basis.  So why are we still such snobs about vocational trades as a post-secondary option?  Why is college promoted as the ultimate solution for securing a future?  These days, our college loans and the ever-increasing rise of unemployment has made college a thorn in our side – not an answer to unemployment.

Vocational education and skilled trades have not deserved our snobbery, nor our resistance as a source of livelihood.   They have shaped our nation, propelled our economy, developed industry, created millions of jobs, raised many families, and continue to be a massively important part of economical regrowth and recovery. 

 It’s a shame that so many think of blue collar work and skilled trades as being ”beneath them” –  something that less cultured, less educated people do.  When college education has left many of us unemployed; demanding we re-pay our tens of thousands of dollars in useless education loans – skilled tradesmen suddenly seem much smarter about their futures.  That, and - employers worldwide are begging for them.

What “discouraged worker” actually means, though, is an unemployed person who has continually applied to quadra-gazillions of jobs for months, in some cases maybe even years – only to gain a higher mountain of unpaid bills, credit that is being annihilated, resources that dried up along with any more mortgage or credit extensions,  a very long gap of unemployment on their resume, and 3 dozen curt letters in the mail that all say, ” Thank for your application to our company.  This position has been filled.  Your application will stay on file for 6 months”….blada blada blah.  As an aside, we all know companies and employers are full of crap when they say that.  Part of the discouragement of a discouraged worker, I’m sure, extends from knowing that these HR depts. never look at our resumes again, once the position we applied for is taken by someone much more fortunate.  Anyway, consequently upon getting this response from a potential employer for the 107th time, the unemployed person abandons the job search altogether.  The belief or hope that there is a job for him, somewhere out there, becomes like reaching the last 100 yards before the light at end of a 10 mile tunnel, and discovering the light was just some guy with his high beams on.  I’ll never find a job, he thinks.  It’s useless.  Someone else will always be more qualified.  Someone else will always have an “in,” that I don’t.  97 jobs with my application, and I haven’t so much as gotten an interview from a single one. . .                                                                                                                         He resigns to dismal acceptance that he is destined to be impoverished, swallowed by debt, reliant upon welfare for an indefinite period of time - and doomed to live out retirement in a crappy one room studio above a stale-smelling, noisy dive in the most crime-filled part of town. 

Looking for work the old-fashioned way has become a futile effort for the discouraged worker.  According to the BLS, the number of discouraged workers has risen 1 million in a year.  People who despair over attainable re-employment have been given an actual label – it’s become that commonplace.  It’s enough to make anyone cancel their newspaper subscription and use the classifieds section for a piñata. 

Here is where news starts to get less depressing – promising, even.  The hiring job market doesn’t necessarily have a perpetual No Vacancy sign for everyone except doctors and nurses and lawyers and Information Technology nerds.  It is simply reshaping itself, my friends.  There are little rays of light poking through the overcast atmosphere of unemployment-hood.  What Kindle is for books, what PS3 or a DS or Kinnect is for gaming; what Pandora is for music; what streaming Netflix or Google TV is for television; what eTrade is for financial investment –  myServiceConnection will be for the job market, job search, and all business service providers of any kind, anywhere.  Wait and see. 

There are jobs out there, waiting.  Your services are needed, desired, and appreciated.  You just have to know where to look. 

Here’s a hint: It’s not in the newspaper or a “Help Wanted” sign in a window.  It’s not even on Monster.com. 

Keep looking. Find us. Then you’ll find work.

The New York Times, as well as several other major newswires and media sources, recently released news about specific bailout spending, emergency loans, and specific company names who took advantage of the Fed emergency loan programs and other financial actions it took in response to the crisis, beginning in 2007, and hitting big in 2008.

It was appalling enough when we thought bailouts were a one-time thing for a lot of financial monopolies like Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, JPMorgan and Chase, and many others.  To find out that these institutions tapped government lending and bailout funds more than 100 times in 13 months is enough to make one’s stomach drop out of them like a lead rock.

Institutions like Goldman Sachs were reportedly doing alright, but still took advantage of government lending at ridiculously low rates.  Not only that, but government lending and bailouts went far beyond wall street.  Harley-Davidson, General Electric, and even companies with ties to McDonald’s and Verizon all dug into the money pot.

So what does all of this mean, in laymen terms?  It means that while millions of regular, hard-working people were on the brink of unemployment, losing their homes, and general financial crisis, executives at pretty much every major financial institution, corporate monopoly, and even foreign private banks in a plethora of countries, all profited and helped themselves to huge sums of money for things like vacations, pensions, bonuses, and other reasons of greed.  They should have used the money to lower credit rates for consumers, given breaks on mortgages, and put the money back into the lending and job market for everyone.  Instead they added as many zero’s as possible to their own bonus check: Capitalism at its worst.

Enter myServiceConnection.com - capitalism at its best.  The opportunity not just for service providers, freelancers and outsourcers to make income at their own discretion upon an independent basis, but for small, medium and large businesses to use the service marketplace to save money, and put capital back into the job market, aimed at those deserving of the work.  myServiceConnection eliminates risky employment not only through a system of verified, feedback-rated outsources and service professionals, but because jobs are insured and mediated through a neutral party, it provides a kind of safety net for both the hiring business or individual, and for the service provider doing the work.

Inside of big name companies and corporations with equally large man-powered factories, you can be hired and then fired as soon as the company needs to make cut-backs.  When you work for a corporate monopoly and things go south, the Everyman is the one who reaps the loss the quickest and the hardest.

Everyone involved in myServiceConnection‘s global service marketplace makes their own choices, sets their own rates; hires and works at their own discretion.  You can’t get laid off or forced into early retirement.  You don’t have to worry about your job being outsourced, or your department being relocated, or your business manager stealing from you.  Find a plumber who’s gotten fantastic feedback, a web designer with an awesome portfolio, an affordable financial advisor, and a lawyer who won’t demand your firstborn child as payment.

Start waking up on the right side of capitalism.

Sources used: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/02/business/economy/02fed.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=biggest%20names%20bailout&st=cse