December 2002

Christmas Issue

Well, I have spent the last month in the usual pre-Christmas whirlwind, trying to cram everything in before the children break up from school and the house will be heaving with visitors. I¹ve been off to Holland and Belgium attending conferences, running courses and enjoying the Dutch spekulaas biscuits that are my downfall. If you want to find out about my trip and whom I met, then take a look at my home page http://www.career-in-your-suitcase.com. In fact this month my letter has a really Christmassy message for you, so do take a look.

In this issue:

1 Not networking but network marketing
2 What you say about career in your suitcase
3 What¹s on
4 What¹s new on the net
5 May I introduce?

Not networking but network marketing

It¹s a time of year for parties, and I¹m talking not about cocktail parties but about party plan. Tupperware, Weekenders and Ann Summers are fairly well known all over the world, but there are plenty of new products and schemes out there too. I am well aware that many people run a mile at the thought of getting involved in network marketing. They immediately think of pyramid selling and Amway. But really it need not be like that, and anyway pyramid selling is illegal.

When I lived in Oman and Norway I was an independent distributor for Dorling Kindersely Family Learning. The first party I held earned me over $1000 in commission. Not bad for an evening¹s work! Over time I grew my business, recruited about ten other people and made a nice commission from their sales too. I held no more than one party a week, usually in the evening and felt very pleased with myself.
When DKFL ceased its party plan operation a few years ago I stopped working in network marketing, but I continue to be a firm believer in its merits as a wholly portable career that moves with you and continues to grow. And that can¹t be said of too many businesses.

Right now I know people who sell magnetic therapy, make up, cookware, skin care, nutrition supplements, candles, clothes, telephone services, website training and a variety of other products through network marketing. Some of them work like crazy, have built a large international team and are making a small fortune. Others work the hours that suit them and do not recruit at all. That is the beauty of this business.
If you are interested in becoming involved in this kind of work I have a number of things I would like to share:

o Only consider selling a product you believe in and would use yourself.

o Only try to recruit someone to your team once you know that they too love the product. Otherwise you will get a reputation for being a bore!

o Ensure that your company is a member of the Direct Selling Association.

o Find out whether the company has a global reach.

o Find out how much you will be able to advertise, many of these companies do not allow their distributors to promote their services visibly.

If this kind of business interests you then I suggest you take a look at the Careers to Go section of the website and read more about it in Amanda Carter¹s fascinating article. I am constantly adding case studies of people who are making a living in this kind of activitiy in the Trailblazer section. If you want to write about your business, go ahead!

If you want to find out more about potential portable careers like this, keep your eye on the Careers to Go section of my site, but also, register with the Expat Telegraph website, where you will start to see a lot more of my articles on different careers. The first one I tackle for them this month will be on Public Speaking, so keep your eye on the site at www.telegraph.co.uk and go to the Expat section. It¹s free!

Jo Parfitt

What you say about my work

Last month I had an article published in The Weekly Telegraph that focused on creating an international CV. One of my readers sent me the following feedback, which I think you will find useful:

I read your interesting piece on CV's just now.

What is common in North America is to have a 'scannable' area that contains ALL KEY WORDS applicable to your application.

It should be boxed off (line all around) & headed DATABASE KEYWORDS. Inside should be items with answers, such as:
POSITION - DRAFTING TECHNICIAN; EXPERIENCE - 7 YEARS; RELOCATE - YES; LANGUAGE SPEAK - ENGLISH FRENCH; LANGUAGE WRITE ENGLISH;

This can be also done in e-mailed letters, or applications. What happens is that a company that gets many applications will simply scan the key words into a database, and this will be used for the initial search. Avoid flowery expressions, the computer will minimise wording and that may be the most important word!

Having a business like personal web page is also beneficial, as this can be updated in real time, rather than sending out yet more paper.

Best

Jon Hewson
Vietnam

And last week I sold a book to Stephanie, who says:

Just a quick note to say that I enjoyed meeting you in person at the
WIN meeting on November 20th and buying your new book! I am almost finished with it and it is a valuable resource. I know that I will refer to it often.

Warmest,
Stephanie Ward

What¹s on

Lincolnshire and London
You will find me conducting a range of workshops both near my home in Stamford, Lincolnshire and at Diorama in Central London. Details are on http://www.reinventions.biz.

Stamford
15th January ­ Reinventing Yourself
5th February ­ Networking for Business
19th March - Find Your Passion
4th June ­ Release the Book Within
16th July ­ Be Your Own Careers Consultant
17th September ­ Get Creative
5th November ­ How to be an Entrepreneur
19th November ­ Creating a Professional Portfolio
3rd December ­ Story to Tell? Make it Sell!

London
For a regularly updated list of the seminars I am involved with that will take place at Diorama, near Warren Street tube, please take a look at http://www.reinventions.biz.

Holland
On April 5th or 6th you will find me conducting The Expatriate Writer: Story to Tell? Make it Sell, in Holland. Contact Connie Moser (embed cimoser@yahoo.com) for more details.

On April 7th and 8th you will find me at the Expat Fair in Amsterdam, where I will join Mary van der Boon on the GlobalTMC stand (embed www.globaltmc.com).

Additional events are being planned for in Dubai, Brussels and London.

Holland
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, March 3 - 8, 2003
Open Seminar Course in Intercultural Communication
by Consultants Interculturele Communicatie ­ CIC

Th six-day course is divided into two modules which may be applied for separately:
Module One: March 3 ­ 5, 2003 - Intercultural relations
Module Two: March 6 ­ 8, 2003 - The interface of culture and religion
Academic credit is offered through The College of Extended Learning, Communications Department, California State University Northridge, USA.
For more information and application form, visit:
http://www.cic-amsterdam.com/html/sem.htm

What¹s new on the net

My career articles are always popular on the Expat Living section of the Daily Telegraph¹s website. While you need to register, it is free, and joining will allow you to read my articles and others regularly.

My article on the fabulous 2002 WIN conference can be read at : http://portal.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?xml=/global/2002/11/18/elexpat18.xml

My article on how companies can support spouses can be read on the Expatica site at: http://www.expatica.com/hr.asp?pad=234,345,&item_id=26748

Last month I was interviewed by Assunta Mondello for The American Hour radio program. If you would like to listen in simply log on to http://theamericanhour.com and click on the Listen Now button.

And on the Career in Your Suitcase site you will find:

An article by Mary Squire about minding your own bizniche! You can read it in the Create Your Career section.

Look in the Networking section and read My 10 Tips for Effective Networking Article

I recently came across the work of motivational speaker, Nigel Risner. Nigel promotes his work by supplying lots of free editorial to the media. You can read his piece on A Little Equation in the Make it Happen section. And if you like his work take a look at Nigel¹s work on http://www.nigelrisner.com

May I introduce?

If you are interested in networking and are already working as a consultant then I recommend that you take a look at a group that calls itself Magenta Circle. Go to www.magentacircle.co.uk. Their newsletter is full of events, tips and ideas. In a recent newsletter one member had passed on the contact details for 14 networks, only one of which I had heard of. These networks are now being added to my networking page on the website. Look at Networking Organisations.

If you are interested in SMEs or run one of your own, then you should consider joining the Directors¹ Forum newsgroup. I have found it to be a great source of leads, support and inspiration and, although I only joined a few weeks ago the group has already won me a self-publishing client. Find out more by email directorscentre@yahoogroups.com and ask to subscribe. In recent newsletter members have been discussing cold calling, depression and business growth.

As I have been teaching a fair amount of writing lately, I have learned a good deal about more information sources. A website called http://www.writing-world.com offers a number of email correspondence courses. Then there is a free newsgroup of writing tips that can be joined by sending an email to inscriptions@topica.com.

And if you are already working as a writer or are looking for markets take a look at http://www.worldwidefreelancer.com. While the site is not updated too often it attempts to list publications all over the world. But if you are looking to be published on the internet, even without pay, do go to Tales from a Small Planet at http://talesmag.com and see if they would like to take any of your work. Also, you could try The Worlds Apart Review at http://www.worldsapartreview.com, which is a website dedicated to helping expatriate writers