Skip to main content

Know your talents so your talents can make you known

"I graduated with a degree in psychology with a minor in business and now I'd like to become a consultant," our server told us.
My colleagues and I had just finished a consultation helping a company protect their intellectual property. Now were unwinding in a popular Penn State establishment.
"What would you like to consult?" I asked.
She thought for a moment and continued with "I still need to go to grad school, then I'll have the experience I need to consult."
"I see, so college is the key?" I asked.
"The way I see it, sure."
I continued to observer her quietly as she worked through the restaurant. I noticed that she had a certain way with her patrons and that she drew the attention of other employees. More than once someone came to ask her opinion. Though she wasn't a manager, she carried herself as an authority and seemed to really enjoy her job.
She had education, looks, confidence and had a contagious personality. These were definitely qualities that would contribute to her success as a business consultant. However, there was one missing vital part; what would she consult in? She had no idea.
She was young and like many young people she expressed that once she finished college she would be attractive as a consultant. In other words, the degree opened the doors and the experience was secondary. This is a common mistake as our society correctly emphasizes the importance of education. However, she would still need some experience at a task, job, hobby or life skill. She didn't know it, but she was ignoring one of her most obvious abilities.
"My buddies and I have been consulting for a while. We really enjoy what we are doing because it's something we know well and we can teach it effortlessly. So, let me ask you a question,why do you need to go to grad school?" I asked after enjoying my meal.
"To get a better education, discover what I would like to consult in and so people will want to hire me."
"I think those are great goals and you should definitely attend grad school. However, have you ever considered building a consultation business on how to run a restaurant?"
Her eyes widened almost as much as the smile on her face. She got the message. Her passion, experience and talent would open the doors for her.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How will you publish your book

  You can publish your book yourself, or publish with others. There are so many options available depending on how much work you want to put into the process. Writing a book is a great experience that can help you further your business opportunities. Publishing with it’s many requirements and resources could prove to be more work than you want to do, especially if writing is not our primary business.   Self-publishing provides an increasingly valuable method of getting information to your audience. With self-publishing, you can write, outsource the printing, and market your book while controlling the process. This type of publishing can be done with very little money up front and, if done right, creates a great source of revenue. If you plan to self-publish, you will need some basic items and information. Books should have copyright protection and each book sold through distribution channels will need International Standard Book Numbers (ISBN). However, with Kindle Direct Publishing (K

Self-Publishers, Pay Attention to Detail

CreateSpace is an excellent self-publishing solution. I primarily use Lightning Source for most of my publishing needs, but there are some advantages of printing with CreateSpace as well. Primarily, books are listed “in stock” at Amazon.com and CreateSpace stores if printed with CreateSpace. My Lightning Source books are available on Amazon.com but usually not listed “in stock”. Thus, I often make my books available for print with both Lightning Source and CreateSpace. If you chose to use one or the other, or both, make sure your title information, ISBN and other book administrative details are accurate and listed the same in both venues. Without that level of detail, your book manuscript and cover submissions may not be approved. Additionally, if you try to link your printed book with an Amazon.com Kindle version, or your paperback with your hardback version, it may prove difficult if title information details vary too greatly. For example, my manuscript is entitled Red Bike Publis

LCCN, PCN or CIP? How to Catalog Your Self-Published book

Catalog options mentioned here are available only to United States  (US) publishers with offices and staff in the US who are available to answer  bibliographic questions about their books. The Library of Congress  Control Number (LCCN) Catalog in Publication (CIP) are two  well known catalog systems. The CIP provides free distribution of prepublished and further distribution of completely published books to libraries  and book vendors world-wide. The PCN provides an abbreviated  record but is not further disseminated to libraries on the same scale  as the CIP. Here is a secret. This book is primarily written for nonfiction authors  who want to self-publish a professional book available to specialized  organizations or professionals. It will most likely be available through  Amazon.com and other on-line bookstores and distributors. This is  the widest distribution effort and your best marketing source. You will  most likely use print on demand and rely on word of mouth, social ne