4. August 2010 by Martin.

Hello,

This blog was launched on August 29th, 2009 and has now reached approximately 3,000 unique visitors per month.

After having 10 people in a far distant country comment on my blog for $15 the feedback I got back was that the content gives mixed messages about a topic that should be taken seriously. Looking for work or improve ones career is not supposed to be fun. It’s an emergency situation that needs a quick fix from a professional charging at least $100 per hour.

So I picked a picture for this weeks post that invites you to make your statement:

1) Should I continue doing what I have done for the past 341 Days or

2) Go professional and build a career consulting business

I know what the next step is going to be. You just need to prove me wrong to avoid it from happening.

Wishing you nothing but success,

Martin

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11. July 2010 by Martin.

Hello,

When coaching people how to prepare for an interview or get inside information about the company that potentially could become their next employer I often run into situations where both sides tend to disguise their true identity.

Look at this brilliant video clips from the cult movie The Big Lebowski filmed by the Coen Brothers:

1) You can insist in showing who you really are - The Dude

or

2) You can come across like somebody totally different - Jesus

So how do you really proof the person you know you are to a potential employer?

We have mentioned several strategies since launching the Gobbla Blog in September 2009, but here are some good techniques that have worked over and over again:

1) LinkedIn - do not underestimate the power of this tool and a network of people says more than 1,000 words in a CV

2) Personality Tests like Myers-Briggs and many others that don’t need to cost a fortune to improve your chances to obtain that crucial first interview

3)  References from past or current colleagues should also be prepared to show the best of your abilities

4) Your Google profile - yes - it will be checked by most recruiters who just type your full name in Google! If you don’t like what comes up make sure that the hosting web site removes the information about you.

5)  Facebook - it can work to your advantage or against you if the recruiter decides to check you out on the social radar. Make sure to clean up your profile before the job searching starts.

There are many more and if you want to comment with some good ideas please feel free to do so!

Slangbella eBook update

I have now 14 chapters ready and just ordered my slingshot from Hong Kong on eBay to start practicing. The real challenge will be to make sure it’s something new and remarkable without typing hundred of pages. Amazing content sources are being added all the time as I stumble upon articles on the web that help people find a better career path in these challenging economic times.

On that note I will take a two week break to enjoy the summer in Montreal before we start a new series of real time mentoring. If you wish me to help you on a particular topic please send a note to martin@gobbla.com

Wishing you nothing but success

Martin

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28. June 2010 by Martin.

Hello,

The other day I got an invitation to the Unconventional Book Tour USA - Canada from my friend Chris and he asked if locals could help him with hosting these events. Nothing like organizing Live Aid for those who where born before 1985, but still I found the simple invite to give a helping hand amazingly open minded coming from a professional blogger! So here I am signed up for January 14th, 2011 in Montreal!

Same thing happened this week when a friend asked me to review a couple of job postings that he was going to apply to online and I said go for the one he liked the most. Two hours later I actually knew somebody at that company! Within minutes he had the name of the HR Manager in Montreal and a reference “on the inside” to send a personalized application. Asking for help is so easy still many turn in circles when they sit in front of their computer!

For those who had the pleasure to see Toy Story 3 I just want to say that you should think back to your early days and identify that toy that meant everything for you. Apply this technique to a team member in your past jobs and reach out to them to dance again just like you did at that Christmas Party! They mean so much to us and still you ask why it’s easier to bid on a toy on eBay than it is to make that phone call to a long lost colleague of yours.

Also - I had to reactivate my Facebook account since 28% of visitors to my blog find me through this social media gateway. Hence it’s important to actually understand what you think happens online vs. what really goes on whilst you are asleep!

Update on Slangbella - my first eBook - coming out in December 2010:

I have completed 9 chapters and keep writing one every day in the train to work. It will be a pleasure to edit them with a professional blogger this autumn. If you have suggestions on subjects you would like to see in  the book please let me know. By the way I am getting loads of ideas fromTimothy Ferriss and his book The 4-Hour Workweek

Wishing you nothing but success

Martin

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21. June 2010 by Martin.

  “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said ‘faster horses.’”

Henry Ford

Hello,

365 days ago my best friend from high school advised me to join Facebook so that we could keep in touch after his visit to Montreal. I was a pioneer of LinkedIn since the value of the professional networking tool was obvious to me from day one.

I had tested Internations - a network for expats - which was more or less based on drinking beer in a local bar meeting people you knew wouldn’t hang around in town very long. The concept may have changed since 2008 so my findings are most likely outdated!

Facebook on the other hand worried me in the sense of time management since it seemed to work like a wild forest fire that quickly gets out of control. When I understood that everything was based on posting comments on peoples walls several things soon came up to my mind:

1) Fly on the Wall - AC/DC …you get tired really fast to try to smack them all dead!

2) Berlin Wall - you think you are in control and that it will last forever!

3) The Great Wall - some have forgotten why it was build in the first place!

So I took my own advise and closed my Facebook account last week. Scary? Not really. Anything strange happened? Nope.

I used my 30 minutes per week to reconnect with LinkedIn connections instead. Surprise, surprise…I actually learned so much more about their lives outside work than any Facebook wall post ever could match in quality! On top of that I got six new connections in different industries! Now that’s time well spent if you ever need to learn more about a company, potential employer or why not expat country!

Do I advise you to shut down your Facebook account? Absolutely not. Is it an option though? Absolutely yes.

Another awesome post from Chris - The Art of Non-Conformity - made me think about the advise that is given to us every day, week and year. What you really need to consider now that there is so much “free” advise on these social media sites is that the best advise you will ever get is the one that comes from yourself!

You can listen to what others have to say. Analyze their facts.  Then move on and make a gut feeling decision and stick with the initial plan. Yours. Just like Henry Ford did!

Note: I now communicate with my high school friend using Windows Instant Messaging instead. More fun really!

Wishing you nothing but success.

Martin

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14. June 2010 by Martin.

Hello,

Question: Which of the light blue circles is larger - the left or right one?

The other day one of my colleagues challenged us to watch this 17 minutes video - yes, I know you normally ignore any video that is more than 120 seconds - about seeing the right information to make the right decision.

This will help you make a wise decision next time you are confronted with too many options in a job interview!

Dan Ariely first got me thinking that this is some kind of silly hoax, but if you take the 17 minutes you will know better!

So next time you are given the choice between:

a) 30% salary increase

b) iPhone

c) 25% salary increase and iPhone

Make the right decision please. If you have any doubts. Watch the video again!

PS Both light blue circles are the same size and you should have based your decision on this single fact only!

Good Luck

Martin

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9. June 2010 by Martin.

Hello,

A couple of months ago I had the opportunity to meet David Meerman Scott  in New York speaking about his new book “World Wide Rave“. Since he took the time to sign a copy and hand it to me for free I felt kind of intrigued to read at least the first chapter on the flight home. Well, it was so inspiring that I couldn’t stop and finished the story with the feeling that something new came to light:

“Creating triggers that get millions of people to spread your ideas and share your stories.”

Most marketing guru’s would do anything to access the magic formula that will have the same impact as

1) Million Dollar Home Page

2) Susan Boyle - Britain’s Got Talent

3) Where the hell is Matt?

Well, like David says in his book none of this is possible unless people actually take the action to share the news the old traditional way i.e. by word of mouth! Yes - you can buy “votes” to a certain extent, but if it ain’t genuine people will reject it for being fake and move on to the next World Wide Rave.

Why I mention this in a blog about Career Mentoring? Well, if you know what it takes for one person to speak to the next about your career ambitions things will rapidly move from one department to another and from a great company to the best company out there. So each time you post something on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or participate at a business and social event think “World Wide Rave”.

Tell a story worth spreading and enjoy the side effects this may have on your career!

Slangbella Project Update: I was thinking about buying a small laptop to get going on the story and found that this had to be more genuine so a pen and paper approach will be applied for the first draft. I will carry this on me all the time so that we scribble down important stuff whenever an idea pops up.

You can now follow the project on Twitter by searching for Slangbellacom !

Good Luck

Martin

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3. June 2010 by Martin.

Hello,

With 3,001 unique visitors to the Gobbla Blog in May it’s now time to move on to some serious matters:

 www.slangbella.com

Yes, I have decided to write a free eBook about how to do what you do best and stick to it. I will not reveal anything else than this YouTube Video about somebody who is a master in using a “slangbella” (Swedish for slingshot)!

I will aim to get the story done before December 31st, 2010 and give you a chance to start 2011 with a BANG!

In the next coming weeks I will also take on a new mentoring project with a fellow Canadian that is coming back from a teaching experience in Asia which will bring some new material about how to make the most of an “expat” experience!

For you who have international friends and former colleagues out there on the World Wide Web there is an awesome “dashboard” tool to manage your Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Google Buzz account all in one place! It’s called www.tweetdeck.com and amazingly enough totally free of charge.

So rest assured that it will be a busy summer and remember that reading good books at the beach, in a Café or whilst stuck in traffic trying to escape the big city can open new horizons when the autumn sneaks back faster than you can say “Summer of 69“! I will be posting stories as usual every week or two.

Good Luck

Martin

martin@gobbla.com

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14. May 2010 by Martin.

Hello,

I just finished reading this great book called “Millionär” from Tommy Jaud about an unemployed guy in Cologne, Germany that is so fed up living under a successful lady driving him nuts that he decides to become a millionaire just so he can buy the entire apartment building and through her out!

The story is really witty and at times right-out inspiring - especially when he goes to one of these seminars about how to make your first million Euros. He initial reaction is to call it a “joke” and looks down on the crowd cheering to the icebreaker “I got the Power!” playing in the background before he also feels that the moment in in life has arrived! If he makes a million in the end is a secret and I highly recommend reading the book!

Now this brought up some memories when I attended a “The Millionaire Mind” seminar in Montreal where  about 400 people listened to Harv Eker’s story about how your “financial footprint” was directly related to how your parents were talking about money when you were a small child. It was like one of those Sunday gospel meetings in a small town somewhere in the Bible Belt! I pretty much forgot about him until today.

So what makes people read these books, go to to expensive seminars or now listen to a free webinar that tells you how to become a millionaire? My guess is that just like any actor going to Hollywood hoping to become the next Brad Pitt or Julia Roberts they have a dream about something that they really, really, really wanted to do since their parents said that becoming a plumber or artist was not going to make them a fortune!

Even if money may not be the key motivation factor it all starts with one single action plan:

Type it, print it and frame it!

By looking at it every day you finally end up taking the initial leap of faith. One step at the time. Same thing applies to your career. Make it a daily task to achieve what you always wanted to be since the very beginning of your childhood.

Good Luck!

Martin

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8. May 2010 by Martin.

Hello,

Just read the latest blog post from my friend Chris and there was no external excuse for not setting up a US $10 Donation button right here; right now:

All proceedings will go right to Kiva since I was just curious to see if this actually works.

What are you going to start today? Right now? Tweet your answer to gobblacom!

Good Luck!

Martin

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1. May 2010 by Martin.

Inspired by a graffiti in Salt Lake City, Utah - USA

Hello,

I had to share this piece of history after spending one week in Salt Lake City - the genealogy capital of the world - where many visitors search for information about their ancestors. “Press on” is exactly what is required when you want to go from “novice” to “intermediate” to “expert” in any career or profession!

Here is what I challenge you to do this week to “press on”:

1) Add one piece of information to your LinkedIn profile and reach out to 3 contacts you have ignored in the past year

2) Buy one book on Amazon.com that will make you “novice” in a new subject matter

3)  Learn or improve a language you always wanted to master or that got rusty since college with Rosetta Stone

If Calvin Coolidge was able to leave Vermont to take the top position in Washington, DC there is really nothing stopping you from reaching whatever goal you had set for 2010! Don’t wait until New Year’s Eve to feel that this year just flew by and if you need a little be of help to motivate you watch this Derek Redmond video - another piece of unforgettable history!

Good Luck!

Martin

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