I've had a great week

Last weekend I played around on the computer designing the business cards for my new business.  I used the avatar I created and the Char Mesan logo and then placed an order online at Officeworks for pick up at my local store.

Well I was able to pick them up on Thursday, and all-in-all, I'm pretty happy with the result - okay, I'm not completely happy that the Char Mesan Enterprises is a bit fuzzy compared to the text for the rest of the business card, but that is because it was added as an image rather than text, and the image must have been low-resolution.  Live and learn, they say.  Oh well, when I need to reorder them I will fix that up.

And, a former colleague referred a client my way, and because her budget was limited and she had some computer skills, I negotiated with the client that I would Lookover (or critique)  her resume, making notes on her existing copy, and then she could go back and fix it herself so she could afford to get the professional help she desperately needed.

And, I'm really glad that she told me she needed it back ASAP too... because she had just learned about a job opportunity with an employer she would be happy to work for - because someone had just resigned - and wanted to submit her improved resume to the employer before they advertised for a replacement... because it worked!  She phoned me today, and rather loudly and excitedly, told me that she got the job and starts on Monday.  This lady has been looking for the same type of work for at least seven months, and the help I had just given her 'is the start of positive changes in my life'.

I don't know about you, but I always feel good when something I have said or done makes someone else's day.

The only 'downside' to my week was having a competitor steal away three referrals on a jobsearch forum that the admin person had directed the person needing assistance to me. I was talking to the person, and this pushy '**tch' hijacked the conversation, shamelessly promoted her own services and invited the three to private message her - which they then did.  I was really upset about this at first, I mean how rude and pushy are some people?  But then I realised that that business mustn't be very good because why else isn't her diary filled with work and why aren't her clients referring other people they know to her services.  When I have other Employment Consultants asking ME to help them fix up their resume, and referring people who aren't eligible for free help to me when I have only been operating for less than a month, was enough for me to lose my anger and feel sorry for her.  Pity the people she poached didn't see her actions as ethically poor - but in order to secure their business, she publicly declared she would do parts of the work for free, and that is the poorest business sense.  I've operated a business previously, enough to know that undercutting the competition isn't good for your reputation or bottom line.

But enough about the downside.  I'm planning on getting out and about now so I can hand out my business cards, oh, and because my updated Training and Assessment certificate finally arrived in the mail, I can now approach some of the training organisations and start trying to gain more work as a trainer and assessor - my dreams feel like they are becoming a reality!

I've had such a great week, that I've even worked on my novel WIP!