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AtricleZine - Cheryl Rickman Interview
Feeling overworked and underpaid? If you’re starting to feel like you deserve a raise, here are eight DO’s and DON’Ts to build your confidence and tact (and what to avoid!) in asking for the salary you feel you deserve.DO1. Devise a “Plan of Action”. First and foremost, get a strategy together. Make a note of the specific projects you’ve undertaken and the results you’ve accomplished. List all of your job skills and the features that make you an asset to this company. Find out what a typical raise is for someone with your experience in your area of occupation. Know the facts and be realistic in your request.2. Ask for an amount that’s slightly higher than one you would be happy with. If you would be happy with a 5% raise, ask for one a couple of points above it. That way, if your boss starts to negotiate, you won’t feel as if your worth has been diluted any by getting less than what you feel you deserve.3. Remember, your boss shouldn’t be the only one negotiating. If your company is going through a slow period or the economy is down, try to be flexible and know how to respond if your boss suggests a lower amount than what you may have been expecting. Consider other ways of getting a raise too, such as additional vacation time, employee perks or more time off. All of these can be just as good (if not better!) than an actual amount of money.4. Choose a specific day and time to meet with your supervisor about your raise request. Avoid choosing a Monday or Friday when bosses are at their busiest. Studies have actually shown that people are more receptive on a Tuesday or Wednesday after lunch. That way, they’re not thinking about the weekend or their stomachs while you’re getting up the nerve to ask about a raise! If you’re afraid of being interrupted during your request, ask to speak to your supervisor for a few minutes after hours.DON’T1. Raise your tone of voice if your boss objects to your raise at first. Remember, he or she is pa
Also, I guess some of my ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ came from my mum. She passed away in 1991 when I was just 17. And, to cope with the trauma and loss, I began to fill my time with trying to further my writing career. Years after her death, one of my mother’s best friends told me that mum always believed that I would someday run my own business. I had no idea that she thought that until a few years into my first business, but that gave me the inspiration I needed t
Are You Good at Climbing? I climbed out of my crib very early, and proceeded to live a very hyperactive childhood, so I have been told by parents, aunts, elder cousins, and others who have known me my entire life. I have noticed that whenever these individuals relate this story, their pupils dilate. According to some researchers and body language experts, this means that they either find me attractive as a person, or that I am a source of anxiety. I certainly hope for the former interpretation, as it would be emotionally unhealthy for these individuals to hold a grudge, now that I have reached adulthood.Within a few months after I escaped the confines of my crib, I was climbing the stair-stepped configuration made possible by opening drawers in certain pieces of furniture. I attempted to scale the side of our refrigerator, and almost made it. Unfortunately, the shiny coffee percolator I grabbed to pull myself up wasn’t bolted securely to the top of the refrigerator (a parental oversight, given that almost everything else was tied down, cordoned off, or roped shut). I tumbled down and landed with the spout of the percolator impaling my chin. That’s the source of one of my earliest “good scars.” As just about everyone knows, an ample collection of these scars serves as a great way to break the conversational ice at social gatherings.It was not too long until I was climbing the sides of hills, houses with gutters or other hand-holds, trees, and anything else with a summit worth conquering. “Cats in my neighborhood were never stuck in trees—they were afraid to go near them,” because of me (so they say). I believe that sounds a bit like an exaggeration, which in my opinion should be dismissed as family folklore.Within a few years, I was climbing trees for money. I had begun a lifelong journey as an individual whose entrepreneurial roots could, ironically, be traced to trees. I had discovered an income source around the holiday season each year—mistletoe. Mistleto
Cheryl has been a freelance writer for the past nine years, writing on business issues for Better Business and Internet Works magazine, and interviewing business leaders and music celebrities. As well as writing The Small Business Start-Up Workbook, which has a foreword by Dame Anita Roddick, Cheryl is author of booklets, 111 winning ways to promote your website successfully and 127 insider ideas on creating a winning website and has been a Judge at Hampshire’s Awards of Web Excellence for the past two years.
The Interview
DS: What inspired you to follow an entreprenerial path and in particular what inspired you to write the Small Business Handbook?
CR: Well, I was never the ‘selling packets of sweets’ kind of playground budding entrepreneur at school, and my main dream was to become a freelance writer, but somewhere at the back of my mind I liked the idea of running my own business, something small and (dare-I-say-it) manageable. (I now know that smaller businesses are often harder to manage due to the lack of people to delegate tasks to).
However, it was mainly circumstance that led me to start-up, and the support and encouragement of my partner, James. And I think it is that circumstance - which creates entrepreneurs. The majority of self-made types are ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
Also, I guess some of my ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ came from my mum. She passed away in 1991 when I was just 17. And, to cope with the trauma and loss, I began to fill my time with trying to further my writing career. Years after her death, one of my mother’s best friends told me that mum always believed that I would someday run my own business. I had no idea that she thought that until a few years into my first business, but that gave me the inspiration I needed to
The successful promotional website is a many faceted, never changing entity. One must be prepared to do extra time in seeing that the website is appealing to others as well as the search engine spider of Google.First and foremost, the website needs to be highly informational. Good information about the subject of the website is very important in the production.There need no be flash and fanfare, only information and hyperlinks. If one considers using flash in a website, at the initial glance of the site, the flash may tend to attract the casual surfer, but in fact, that flash is very distracting from the actual information that one is trying to portray.Building a significant meta tag description is very important as well. It will take time to accomplish this as many areas need to be covered in the meta for super response from the spiders. One may use a significant amount of keywords, making it even more appealing to the spiders.Having a contact form is equally important. The contact form can ultimately lead to sales. Therefore, time spent in exploring the construction of an adequate contact form is important.Having a relevant and up to date links page is important as well. There is absolutely no better way to gain search engine positioning that having relevant inbound links to a website.If one is having success of any kind, placing a results page can be very important as well. Any type of success whether it be top search engine rankings, goods and services sold...whatever...the placement of this page is very important.Having special offers that will assist people in their online business is helpful as well. If one has a special gift or talent, placing this on a separate page will draw significant traffic to a site.If one is gifted in the writing area, placing some of the articles on another page of the site can lead to sales...but more importantly, it simply gives people an idea of the kind of person they are dealing with online.Constructing a s
Cheryl has been a freelance writer for the past nine years, writing on business issues for Better Business and Internet Works magazine, and interviewing business leaders and music celebrities. As well as writing The Small Business Start-Up Workbook, which has a foreword by Dame Anita Roddick, Cheryl is author of booklets, 111 winning ways to promote your website successfully and 127 insider ideas on creating a winning website and has been a Judge at Hampshire’s Awards of Web Excellence for the past two years.
The Interview
DS: What inspired you to follow an entreprenerial path and in particular what inspired you to write the Small Business Handbook?
CR: Well, I was never the ‘selling packets of sweets’ kind of playground budding entrepreneur at school, and my main dream was to become a freelance writer, but somewhere at the back of my mind I liked the idea of running my own business, something small and (dare-I-say-it) manageable. (I now know that smaller businesses are often harder to manage due to the lack of people to delegate tasks to).
However, it was mainly circumstance that led me to start-up, and the support and encouragement of my partner, James. And I think it is that circumstance - which creates entrepreneurs. The majority of self-made types are ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
Also, I guess some of my ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ came from my mum. She passed away in 1991 when I was just 17. And, to cope with the trauma and loss, I began to fill my time with trying to further my writing career. Years after her death, one of my mother’s best friends told me that mum always believed that I would someday run my own business. I had no idea that she thought that until a few years into my first business, but that gave me the inspiration I needed t
The Corporate Events Manager at a leading high tech firm requested one of my demonstration videos.I sent it promptly by Federal Express. Later, I checked the FedEx website (www.fedex.com) to track progress. The site provides instantaneous information, telling me my package was delivered at 9:27 am the very next day. Two days later I sent an e-mail to the manager, asking for her feedback on the video.‘I haven’t received it yet,’ she wrote back. ‘We have Turtle Mail inside this company. I should get your package by the end of the week.’Amazing! Federal Express picks up, delivers and tracks packages at warp speed…but inside this Fortune 500 company, the mailroom can’t route an express package to the right desk within 48 hours!Key Learning PointFrom satellites to sanitation, the need for speed applies. What's the slowest part of your organization? Check it out, then speed it up!Action StepsAudit internal response times throughout your organization. How long does it take to route a package, reply to an e-mail, return a voice mail message? Identify bottlenecks that slow you down. Develop ways to speed things up and implement the solutions.
The Interview
DS: What inspired you to follow an entreprenerial path and in particular what inspired you to write the Small Business Handbook?
CR: Well, I was never the ‘selling packets of sweets’ kind of playground budding entrepreneur at school, and my main dream was to become a freelance writer, but somewhere at the back of my mind I liked the idea of running my own business, something small and (dare-I-say-it) manageable. (I now know that smaller businesses are often harder to manage due to the lack of people to delegate tasks to).
However, it was mainly circumstance that led me to start-up, and the support and encouragement of my partner, James. And I think it is that circumstance - which creates entrepreneurs. The majority of self-made types are ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
Also, I guess some of my ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ came from my mum. She passed away in 1991 when I was just 17. And, to cope with the trauma and loss, I began to fill my time with trying to further my writing career. Years after her death, one of my mother’s best friends told me that mum always believed that I would someday run my own business. I had no idea that she thought that until a few years into my first business, but that gave me the inspiration I needed t
Every potential employee at one point or another has stressed over just what to ask in their job interview, right? Well, they’re right to feel that way.You see, according to employers surveyed, they absolutely do judge candidates by the specific questions they ask in an interview. They want to know that the individual is focused on succeeding in the job, and not just worried about how much money they’ll get paid.Whatever you do, you never want to seem uninterested or unprepared in the eyes of a potential employer, therefore you must take the time to do your homework, which means:Research, research, research!Always know any information you can get your hands on about the potential company - the best place for this would be to read everything on their website (providing they have one). If that’s not an option, you can always take a quick trip to the local library.Now, I will tell you exactly how to get prepared and give yourself a fighting chance for that job you dream about.So let’s get started shall we?First, I should get this out of the way–Never ever ask about benefits or salary. Save these inquiries until after you’ve actually been offered the job.Here are the top 10 questions to ask in an interview.1. What are you looking for most in the individual you hire? 2. How will my responsibilities and performance be measured? And who will I be reporting to?3. What are some of the abilities and skills required for someone to succeed in this job? And Can you describe an ideal employee? (This is a chance to really sell yourself, and explain just how perfect you are for the job.)4. Is there a company policy in effect that offers employees training to keep up with skills and obtaining new ones?5. Can you tell me the way this job has been performed in the past? What improvements would you like to see happen? (this is your golden opportunity to convince your po
However, it was mainly circumstance that led me to start-up, and the support and encouragement of my partner, James. And I think it is that circumstance - which creates entrepreneurs. The majority of self-made types are ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
Also, I guess some of my ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ came from my mum. She passed away in 1991 when I was just 17. And, to cope with the trauma and loss, I began to fill my time with trying to further my writing career. Years after her death, one of my mother’s best friends told me that mum always believed that I would someday run my own business. I had no idea that she thought that until a few years into my first business, but that gave me the inspiration I needed t
I’m a recruiter so it probably won’t come as a surprise that I’d recommend using a recruiter as part of your job search.Rather than justify my existence, I think it would be more valuable to you the reader to understand exactly how a good recruiter can add value to your career search.Truthfully, a good recruiter can help give you an advantage over other people looking for (and interviewing for) the same jobs you are.1. A good recruiter can help you find jobs that you might otherwise not know about. You may have heard about the “hidden job market.” Sometimes it’s so well hidden, you can’t actually find it.A recruiter has two main goals in life: to find jobs to fill and then to find the person to fill it.So first off, the recruiter needs to find open positions that they can help a company fill. Then they look for suitable candidates like you to actually present to the company for consideration for the job.In other words, a recruiter is a person who by definition needs to know where the available jobs are and who is hiring. They do this so that you don’t have to.2. A good recruiter should help you prepare for interviews.I don’t just mean that they email you a link to the company website and read directions to the company out to you over the phone, either…If your recruiter just does that, get a new recruiter!A good recruiter will shed light on specific information that will help you stand out from others who are interviewing for the same job as you but who applied on their own and won’t have access to this information. This can only help you!A good recruiter will know the hiring manager (or whoever is interviewing you) and will be able to fill you in on some information you wouldn’t otherwise know about.For example, information that I always pass onto my candidates include things like: the personality of the interviewer(s). Imagine if you always knew before the interview what sort of
Also, I guess some of my ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ came from my mum. She passed away in 1991 when I was just 17. And, to cope with the trauma and loss, I began to fill my time with trying to further my writing career. Years after her death, one of my mother’s best friends told me that mum always believed that I would someday run my own business. I had no idea that she thought that until a few years into my first business, but that gave me the inspiration I needed to think about writing my book. Having succeeded in business through a combination of determination and my own trial and error, I longed to write a book that would offer insight and encouragement to young entrepreneurs like me who dreamt of running their own business, but didn’t have the faintest idea where to start. Ultimately, The Small Business Start-Up Workbook is the culmination of that dream.
DS: Did you have any help setting up WebCritique your first company or were you going it alone?
CR: In terms of advice I received help and guidance from my Local Enterprise Agency, but got most of the information I needed from the web. In terms of finance my personal bank turned me down for a business loan, so I set up a new account – great while it was free, but not so useful now it isn’t. Choosing the right business bank is a crucial decision and worth spending time on. I’m with Lloyds but wouldn’t recommend a bank who’s business managers are difficult to get hold of and don’t see the longer-term bigger picture. My book includes questions to ask banks, and you can compare UK banks at www.bba.org.uk or www.moneyfacts.co.uk
DS: What was the biggest challenge you faced in bringing your idea to fruition? How was it overcome?
CR: The first was to challenge my own assumptions about whether or not I could do it. Everybody has some element of fear going into it for the first time, but I had such a great support mechanism in my boyfriend James, that he fuelled my own belief in my ideas and capabilities. The second challenge and probably the biggest ongoing hurdle that is shared by most small businesses is funding and cash flow. Finding start-up capital was far from easy, so I started up with a minimal amount. It’s certainly easier to borrow bigger sums than small amounts. In the early days I also found getting clients to pay on time was a challenge. Now this is less of a problem, but
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