Does your resume lack texture?

If you rely solely on job duties, as is the case with most resumes, a recruiter will have no way of knowing if you were the best (insert job title here) or the worst. To stand out from hundreds of other candidates with similar backgrounds, your resume has to have texture.

Move beyond generic job duties

Ideally, every job-related bullet on your resume should address what was involved (your task), what you did (your role), and the impact that had on the organization or purpose behind what you were doing (your result).

Before you roll your eyes and say you didn’t make a big enough splash to qualify as “impact” on the organization, understand that impact could be something as simple as making a recommendation to management to try to make something better. For example, if you worked as a cashier and noticed the ChapStick hidden away in the far corner of the store wasn’t selling, and suggested they try moving it near the cash register, and the store ended up selling more ChapStick—that’s impact.

Show scale and scope

Unless you tell them, recruiters really have no way of knowing if you worked on something really small or really large. So if you say you worked with a client, they could be a small “mom & pop” shop or a huge multinational corporation or any and all points in between. When possible, mention the names of notable corporate clients. Or, if you can’t for confidentiality reasons, describe their size “a $300 million health care company.”

If you managed a huge project, look for opportunities to articulate how huge—How big was the budget? How many people were on your team? What was the ultimate deliverable? Was it widely adopted and/or successful?

Tell a story

Each bullet should be a self-contained, stand-alone short story. Include enough detail to give the recruiter a grasp of what you did while also remembering to cite specific examples or points of distinction that will help differentiate you from someone with a similar background. In almost every case, you should be able to tell each “story” in one or two well written and concise sentences.

Eliminate run-of-the-mill job duties

Read over every bullet of your resume and ask yourself “If I was the greatest candidate in the world and I was competing against someone with a similar background who was the worst, how might each bullet look different?” Bullets that focus solely on your run-of-the-mill job duties aren’t going to cut it.

So, how will you add texture to your resume?

What makes a great in-store display?

My local Giant Eagle is at it again. This time, they’ve created a massive wall (and I mean wall) of Pepsi just in time for March Madness. But the sheer size of their in-store promotion is only part of what makes it a source of creative inspiration for entrepreneurs and small business owners.

What else can we take away that could help drive sales and engage customers? Let’s take a look at following four key elements:

Location. Giant Eagle’s display is located just inside of their front entryway—space most other retailers waste by using it as storage for hundreds of empty shopping carts. By using their entryway, every customer will see their display on the way in and on the way out.

Theme. The Pepsi display incorporated both their hometown Pittsburgh Panther’s men’s basketball team and the NCAA basketball tournament which establishes a local connection to a major sporting event–something that might sound obvious but that many business owners fail to do with marketing campaigns focusing on a local audience.

Potential “add on” sales. What goes better with Pepsi than chips? At the edges of their display, Giant Eagle did a great job of incorporating complementary items–a key element of any effective sales strategy.

Value or potential savings. It’s one thing to say an item is on sale, but it’s another to really drive that message home by highlighting value or how much money your customers could save.

You don’t have to be a big grocery store to use in-store displays and visual merchandising to drive sales and engage with your customers. Don’t be afraid to incorporate any or all of the elements mentioned above to see what resonates best with your target audience.

Fast Company Blog: 7 Ways to Experience South by Southwest Without Actually Being There

Each year, thousands of people converge on Austin, Texas to make their annual pilgrimage to the South by South West (SXSW) Music and Film Interactive. And that leaves a huge void for those of us who aren’t able to attend. A never ending stream of Facebook status updates and Tweets from the moment they start packing their suitcases only serve as a constant reminder that 1) we’re not going and 2) we wish we were.

So what do you do if you’re not one of the lucky ones going to SXSW but you still want to keep up with that’s going on and feel like you’re part of the “in crowd?”

Read more.

[Photo via SXSW.com]

How to establish pricing for your first startup

You’ve decided to start your own business. You identify your product, create a fancy new website, and you’re chomping at the bit to reach out to potential customers or clients. But before you do, you have to decide how much you are going to charge for your services.

Pricing starts with self-confidence.

Winning new business requires being able to convince a potential customer 1) that you have the expertise or skill set to help them solve a problem or fulfill a need and 2) your price is worth what you bring to the table. Simple, right? Not if you’ve never had that discussion before. You don’t have a book of business to call on as a point of reference. You think you’ll do a great job, but you don’t know. And that’s when you can find yourself grappling with self-doubt—wondering if your rates are too high or if you even should be charging someone at all. If you have what it takes to do the job, be confident in yourself and your abilities.

Don’t forget to keep the lights on.

Once you have your self-confidence dialed in, the next factor to consider is how much you need to make to stay afloat. How much is your time really worth? And at that rate, what’s the minimum number of clients you’ll have to secure each and every day to be able to keep a roof over your head, eat, and make a living? This part of the pricing equation is critically important—if you’re running on thin margins, you’re going to need a lot of customers. If you’re running on high margins, you’re going to need a smaller group of customers who are willing to pay what you’re asking.

A little benchmarking never hurts.

When you’re starting a new business, it’s always hard to tell what the market will bear. You don’t want to overcharge for your products and services and price yourself out but you also don’t want to undercharge and leave money on the table. Big companies do this all of the time—that’s why you don’t see any national fast food chains with a $3.00 “value” menu. They all seem to hoover right around $1.00 (give or take a penny). So look around. Find a few potential competitors and try to find out what they’re charging for similar products or services.

Customers vote with their wallet (or debit card).

Every time you speaking with a potential customer about pricing, you’ll gain invaluable feedback. Listen to what they say—how they react when you mention a price. Do they wince? Does their jaw drop? Do they roll their eyes? If they do, you might be a tad high. And when that happens, you have to either decide to drop your prices, focus on a different customer segment, or do a better job of convincing them of the value of your product or service.

Calibrating pricing can take time.

Don’t expect to have everything completely hammered out from day one. If you put some thought into your pricing and benchmark against your key competitors, you should already be in the pricing ballpark. But you still might find you need to tweak the way you package and price your goods and services…and that’s okay. The more your business grows, the more data you’ll have on whether your pricing strategy is working or it isn’t.

So what do you think? Share your comments.

Fast Company Blog: Will Barnes & Noble’s New Retail Strategy Help Save the Day?

Borders files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Local and regional booksellers continue to consolidate stores or close their doors all together. For many, it’s already too late to change direction on a rudderless ship that has been left in the wake of the rapid decline in hard copy book sales. One national retailer, on the other hand, is using a change in strategy to help weather the storm.

It had been a few weeks since I’d last visited my local Barnes & Noble. As I walked through the front door over the weekend, the first thing I noticed was a fully staffed Nook station located no more than 10 feet inside the store–strategically placed so it would be almost impossible to miss. In addition to the fancy NOOK color, they also had an extensive assortment of NOOK accessories. Complementing the kiosk, their in-store displays and signage also do a good job of highlighting a mix of both their print and digital book offerings.

But eReaders are only one aspect of their strategic shift.

Read more.