How To Marry Excel and Word for Mass Letters

How To Marry Excel and Word for Mass Letters I did this many, many moons ago. It takes a little bit of work, but not too much. If you want to send mass letters that look customized (based on the name of the recipient), heres how you do it: How to use Microsoft Excel and Word to send multiple emails. This post was written in 2009 by Walt Feigenson, a friend in the Silicon Valley area. We met when I was in town a few years back, speaking at some job clubs, and the last time I saw him was at his house for dinner (on a different trip).  The stories he has of the history of software, which he was involved with, are awesome. And this merge technique, which might feel a little dated, is really quite powerful.  YMMV, based on editions of Word/Excel if yours doesnt work the way he describes, figure it out and let me know in the comments what is different (that is a tactful way of saying: Im not tech support for this tactic good luck :)) How To Marry Excel and Word for Mass Letters I did this many, many moons ago. It takes a little bit of work, but not too much. If you want to send mass letters that look customized (based on the name of the recipient), heres how you do it: How to use Microsoft Excel and Word to send multiple emails. This post was written in 2009 by Walt Feigenson, a friend in the Silicon Valley area. We met when I was in town a few years back, speaking at some job clubs, and the last time I saw him was at his house for dinner (on a different trip).  The stories he has of the history of software, which he was involved with, are awesome. And this merge technique, which might feel a little dated, is really quite powerful.  YMMV, based on editions of Word/Excel if yours doesnt work the way he describes, figure it out and let me know in the comments what is different (that is a tactful way of saying: Im not tech support for this tactic good luck :))

How Small Business Leaders Can Use Googles Teamwork Study - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

How Small Business Leaders Can Use Googles Teamwork Study - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career In 2012 Google began studying teamwork in the company. Called Project Aristotle, results were released in 2016. Google in-house researchers studied 180 teams at the company and analyzed over 250 team attributes through more than 200 interviews. The final results reported five key characteristics that allowed teams to achieve high-levels of success. In order of importance they are: * Psychological Safety * Dependability * Structure and clarity * Meaning * Impact They found these five factors present in how the teams functioned were more important than the individual team members’ capabilities. Now, I’m assuming the results bringing those five characteristics to the fore assume a certain level of competency. Most of the articles Ive read that have summarized the Google teamwork results have stopped with what I posted above just listing the traits and speak little about how to achieve them. Which, if youve ever tried, you know is not easy. This is important because most employees in most small businesses are hired because of their expected competencies in fulfilling the role for which they are hired. BUT, the things that typically cause the greatest stress in small businesses is not a team members competency in how well they do their job. The big issues that arise typically is how those individual employees interact and engage with their co-workers. Often, teamwork in small business is less formal and more just a basic requirement of the functionality of getting things done in an environment with a limited number of personnel. And, in working with small businesses the past 15 years to improve communication, collaboration, and teamwork those five characteristics are often the cause of greatest discourse. Unfortunately, small business leaders are not aware of these factors. They blame unmotivated employees with bad attitudes for a lack of contributing to the collaborative work environment. In reality, the cause is a work environment that lacks these five factors. Four of the characteristics, dependability, structure and clarity, meaning, and impact, are almost self-explanatory and relatively easy to incorporate. Psychological safety on the other hand, I’ve found to be challenging to find in most work environments. On Google’s internal “rework” website where the results and recommendations are posted explains psychological safety as: “an individual’s perception of the consequences of taking an interpersonal risk or a belief that a team is safe for risk taking in the face of being seen as ignorant, incompetent, negative, or disruptive. In a team with high psychological safety, teammates feel safe to take risks around their team members. They feel confident that no one on the team will embarrass or punish anyone else for admitting a mistake, asking a question, or offering a new idea.”   This is rarely present. When it is, a company thrives. The challenge with creating psychological safety is that individual personality traits and levels of self-esteem impact it. Interestingly, every wants and needs psychological safety to thrive. Without it, human beings would be paralyzed to say or do anything. Yet, few of us participate in helping to create it. Most of our behavior tends to undermine it. You’ve probably experienced situations where people are publicly judged for their opinions and ideas, or called out in public without their knowledge or approval when failing to fulfill a promise or deliver on a commitment. Here are a three ways leaders can foster psychological safety that will lead to higher levels of teamwork and collaboration in your work environment: Have a “psychological safety” conversation with the team and create an understanding of what it is and why it’s important. Then, have the team share ideas for making it part of their team experience, and create and commit to a “Team Agreement.” Instill a commitment to ABC Communication, “always be curious.” If your team commits to always being curious, the first response would be a question seeking to understand instead of showing judgment. Have private check-ins with each team member to ensure they feel they are able to participate at a level their comfortable and encourage additional ideas to make it even better. Then, bring the anonymous collective ideas to the team for discussion and refinements of the “Team Agreement.” What is your experience with psychological safety in your work environments? What strategies have you incorporated to create it? Leave a comment below and lets start a conversation.

Target the Reason People Buy - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Target the Reason People Buy - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Television shows, movies and much of what we read speak to the need of managing our reputation. In particular, it’s important to monitor our online communication. If in the heat of the moment, we were to post something that we later regret, it could affect future employment and possibly all else we desire to achieve. Larger Picture Coupling online communication with the traditional written word and in-person conversation, it’s good to remember that words, actions and deeds all reveal your level of honesty. Prospective clients are keenly tuned in as to whether you display integrity or not. In particular, as price points increase for the more expensive services, it becomes more important than ever to ensure your intended clientele recognizes your honesty. Prospective clients make the determination of whether you may be trusted. Procedure The all-time best policy is to begin with your ideal ending in mind. The focus should not be on the initial sale. Instead, the improved vision is to develop a loyal returning and referring clientele. Every activity is to demonstrate that you look out for the best interests of your clientele. Doing so builds sound relationships and a well recognized personal brand. Trust is the soul of sales. Likewise, job seekers will do well to begin viewing the hiring managers as their clientele. When tough questions are asked, think back to a situation where you demonstrated integrity and resolved issues to high acclaim. This is the type of candidate hiring managers seek out for their team. Your Story A few questions come to mind as you build a sound reputation: Do you admit when you don’t know an answer? Do you familiarize yourself with the client-to-be, the company and industry prior to  meetings? Are you adept at applying the research to helping the client make the better decision? Knowing that you do your best to assist your clientele brings satisfaction from within. The burden of stress caused by wondering where your next piece of business might come from will fade away. Instead, you get to enjoy a clientele that respects you and the reward of knowing you did an excellent job. Once integrity is seen by prospective clients, other factors come into play such as: Understanding of their company and needs Listening to and answering concerns Working within the budget Asking the client to consider a variety of possibilities in order to help select the best solution for them Providing an appropriate solution within the budget Delivering upon everything promised and on the agreed upon timeline Sales Tips: Ask prospective clients the reasons behind the meeting Inquire into all the factors pointing to an upfront need for the meeting Listen for facts not included to ask pertinent questions Ask why those points are not being addressed Explain the importance of the omitted facts Upon incorporating all of the facts, ask for the intended best case outcome Establish a timeline for getting all agreed upon components in order With input from your client, create a robust plan for solving problems to help them move forward Deliver everything that is promised in a timely fashion Check in after the sale finalizes for their level of satisfaction Following these guidelines will lead you to the Smooth Sale!

Energize Up! Tricks to Boost Your Energy During the Day.

Energize Up! Tricks to Boost Your Energy During the Day. We all have those days. It’s barely 11:00 and you can’t keep your eyes open at your desk. Your computer turns into a blurry mess, and you painfully begin to count down the minutes until closing time. Coffee just is cutting it. I’ve been there. I’ve had those days where I wish I could leave my computer and not come back. Unfortunately, the reality of work is that it is, well, work, and there are tasks that have to get done, even if I don’t have the energy for them. Working from home, being by myself for large portions of the day, can definitely be an energy suck in itself some days. I’ve come up with a few tricks that help reenergize me and keep me going throughout the day. Take these to the office â€" I promise they’ll work there, too! Take a break. While standing desks are the new thing, we don’t all have them. Sitting for long periods of time can be bad for your body and for productivity. Take 2 or 3 minutes every 20-30 minutes and give your eyes a break from the screen. Clear your head from your project. Get up and look out the window. Changing your focus, even just for a couple minutes, can be refreshing. Have a snack. Have some snacks stashed at work that are high in protein and natural sugars. 100-200 calories is a good range for a pick-me-up. Natural sugars take longer for the body to process than the sugars found in candy, and they’re healthier for you anyway. Try an apple or banana with a spoonful of peanut butter, or yogurt with fruit or granola. Exercise. If you work from home or have a gym at the office, take a half-hour and go for a walk, hit the treadmill, or lift a little. Exercising increases your heart rate and blood flow, and has been shown to energize. Go outside. Even just sitting outside for 10-20 minutes is enough to give you an energy boost. Get out of the stuffy office and let yourself breathe! Drink more water. Being thirsty can cause you to feel more fatigued. If you’re finding yourself with a loss of energy during the day, drinking a cool glass of water might be the best solution. Ms. Career girl wants to know: What tricks to you use to reenergize during the work day? Comment below or Tweet us at @mscareergirl.

10 Steps to Executive Job Search Success - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

10 Steps to Executive Job Search Success

How To Become Your Own Personal Career Coach - CareerAlley

How To Become Your Own Personal Career Coach - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Many people do not realize that the one thing that may be keeping them from living a successful life is their mindset. Very often, we are our own worst critics, especially at work where our performance and its subsequent results are influenced and judged by others. Your career can be better, more exciting and rewarding if you learn how to take charge of the way you think. Learn how to become your very own personal career coach with these tips: Know What You Want. Maybe the position of a Regional Vice President or Chief Operating Officer may sound fancy and look impressive on your business card but if your talents and interests lie elsewhere, you will never find fulfillment in your career, no matter how well you do in it. Consider your own standards, dreams, aspirations and goals. Ask yourself, If money is no object, what would I rather do or where would I rather be? At first, the answer may seem impractical to your current situation but once you get to the root of your inner self, you will understand the type of career you are supposed to have based on the things you want to do and the talent you were born with. For example, becoming a performer may be your dream job but if you lack the singing skills necessary, you may want to look into a career as a music producer or composer or even as a backup singer. If you know what you want, you set your own standards for success and will be all the more satisfied for it. Always Ask For the Goods. Whenever you are faced with an important decision, ask yourself, Is this good for my goals? Will this help me achieve what I want? Initially, it will not be easy to trust your inner voice because fairly often your ego will throw a few wrenches in the way. However, once you understand that who you are inside is protective of your interests, you will learn to trust your decisions. Know Your Weaknesses But Rely on Your Strengths. We all have our good points and bad points. Regardless of the type of career you have, know what makes you shine and what makes you stumble. You may not always succeed at overcoming every weakness you have but when you know what they are and recognize what they do to you, you have a better chance of overcoming them and even using them to perform better at work. Write It Down. As your very own personal career coach, you should learn how to face each problem or challenge in a way that allows you to use your creativity to come up with a solution. If you have a problem that needs solving, write it down, then create a diagram that will allow you to dissect it to its very core. Write down the issues that cause the problem, who are involved and why, the type of challenges present that may complicate the matter, what types of solutions will work and how. Brainstorming is an important step in your career and as your personal career coach, you will learn how to hone this skill and use it to your advantage. Believe in What You Can Do. One of the worst offenses that anyone can make that sabotages their careers is their failure to believe in their abilities. As your own career coach, you can never succeed at your goals of motivating yourself if nothing you can do or have done is good enough. Of course, you should always challenge yourself but you must first and foremost believe in your skills and abilities. Knowing that you can make a positive change in your career will give you more confidence to excel not just in your career but also in your personal life. Author BioJoshua Turner is a writer who creates informative articles in relation to business. In this article, he offers tips to become your own personal career coach and aims to encourage further study with an OU Masters in Coaching Psychology. This is a Guest post. If you would like to submit a guest post to CareerAlley, please follow these guest post guidelines. Good luck in your search. Joey Trebif

Are You Looking For A Way To Improve Your Job Skills

Are You Looking For A Way To Improve Your Job Skills Many of us need a little help learning the new skills that are a part of todays workplace. Fortunately, theres a way to get some of that education for free the MOOC, or Massive Open Online Course. The challenge is finding the right course for your circumstances, and not being overwhelmed by the task. Many of the top universities offer MOOCs, but just because its good content doesnt mean its good for you. Do Your Research Take the time to read reviews and carefully consider what your goals are. For instance, the emphasis on internet marketing in every business means that people who keep up on SEO skills are preferable. Look for some reviews, or guides like the 2015 Guide to Free SEO Training Courses Online on Search Engine Watch. The goal is to select one skill to develop in your spare time and deciding which skill you need to prioritize based  on your own career goals. Do Your Homework Once you have decided to take something like a MOOC, keep at it. Most of the difficulty in online classes is keeping at it. This is why its usually good to do one at a time and, if you can talk a friend into taking it with you, you have a study partner and some accountability. You are working on educating yourself for your own satisfaction for the most part, but that is impressive because it shows you are looking for life-long learning opportunities. People who demonstrate a desire to keep learning, taking the initiative to research the best options for their industry, and keeping at it by getting through something like a massive open online course are impressive. They make an impression on their colleagues because they set a good example. They make an impression on their employer because they demonstrate an ability to stay current with their skill set. And they make an impression in their self-confidence because they are increasing their knowledge and understanding. If you decide to explore the potential of the MOOC, do your research and select the right one then do your homework and get it done.