5 Soft Skills to Advance Your Career

How important are soft skills when it comes to advancing your career, getting a raise, or showing your employer that you deserve to take on more responsibility?

Soft skills are just as important as job-specific skills. But before we get into why or how they are vital, let’s look at why now is the right time to hone your soft skills.

Recent events during the pandemic changed the lives of millions, and many have changed careers, jobs, or where they work. The pandemic has brought much uncertainty, with people fearing the stability of their jobs and finances, especially with the escalating prices.

Forget vacations or even splurging on a new pair of shoes: now some people aren’t even sure if they can afford their groceries. So what can you do to increase your chances that you can keep your job, or get a job when a crisis like this occurs?

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Amazing and Shocking Insights on Writing Skills

How much do you love writing?  Whether you want to answer this question with a groan or heart emojis, writing is a necessary part of modern life.

For some, writing is a lucrative career. For others, writing is necessary, everyday communication through work emails, or texts with family and friends. Writing is a skill we can’t do without.

Writing tasks can be as simple as filling out name and address forms. Or it can be as challenging as writing a multi-page report complete with footnotes and data tables. 

Over time, and with practice, you can improve on the skill to overcome writer’s block, awkward sentences, jumbled thoughts, or grammar issues. 

Because writing is an important part of our lives, we are sharing some amazing and shocking insights on writing skills. It’s astonishing what you can achieve when you put together a series of words!

Amazing Insights on Writing

  • What is the fastest time for writing a book? According to Guinness World Records, the fastest time to produce a novel is 9 hours 5 minutes 8 seconds. A team of 53 professional authors and academics wrote Moş Crăciun & Co.
  • How quickly does the English language change? Every two hours, a new word is added to the dictionary! Leading style guides such as Chicago, APA, MLA, and AP regularly revise their rules for punctuation and words and phrases. Writers and editors need to keep up with the latest changes to ensure their writing is up to standard. 
  • Is there a limit to original story ideas? J.R.R. Tolkien had the idea for the Cauldron of Story (Pot of Soup), which is the collective imagination. All writers dip into this hypothetical pot, meaning no new stories are ever created.
  • How old is the earliest writing? About 5,500 years ago, humans drew symbols and images during the Stone Age. Around 3500 BCE, the first writing appeared, called Sumerian cuneiform, from pictographs. This writing system was used for business transactions, recording complaints, and refunds. Much later, writing developed into literature.
  • What are the most in demand writing jobs? The most in demand writing jobs are in content writing. Content writers write blog posts or articles. 
  • What are the highest paid writing jobs? Some of the highest paid writing jobs are (in no particular order): technical writer, copywriter, medical writer, speechwriter, screenwriter, ghostwriter, grant writer, and proposal writer. 
  • How much do writers make? The average writer’s salary in the United States is $65,000 (according to ZipRecruiter). The average salary for a creative writer in the United States is $52,576 (salary.com). Copywriter jobs pay from $75,000 to $140,000 (ZipRecruiter).
  • How is creative writing similar to professional athletics? German researcher Martin Lotze discovered that brain activity during the writing process and during athletic competitions are similar. However, professional writers used the speech-processing center of the brain while amateur writers used the vision center to visualize their story.
  • Do all writers write their own stories? If you have dysgraphia (difficulty with handwriting, typing, and spelling), it can be challenging to write a story. Author Agatha Christie published investigative books with the help of a typist like Barbara Blackburn, who could type 150 words per minute.

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How to Create Irresistible Offers

Some people lose all willpower when they see yummy chocolates. Others stop working when tempted by a cat video or postpone housework to watch an adventure movie. Every day, everywhere, we are tempted by irresistible offers. 

What makes an irresistible offer so difficult to refuse? Simple. It solves a problem or pain point. Each moment, we face another choice: Do another hour of boring work or break for a minute to watch an Instagram reel. Clean all the rooms or escape in an adventure movie. The choice is easy and the reward is worth it.

From a business point of view, creating that tempting offer is the key to getting customers and long-term clients. The solution could be products at the right price point, an enjoyable experience, or a worthwhile service. We’ll focus on the three best ways to create an irresistible offer. 

Solving a Pain Point at the Right Price Point

It’s easy to offer a quick solution to a problem at the right price with everyday items. Are you hungry? Go have some fast food. You’re hungry, and you need food now. Need some bread, milk, and eggs? Buy some. You need groceries, and you need to eat to live. 

With other purchases, it may be harder to get the sale. For example, delivery is convenient, but pick-up saves money. A new pair of shoes would be nice since the old pair is falling apart – but waiting for a sale can save a few bucks. 

As the price point goes up, it can become more challenging. For example, hiring a cleaning service might take a chunk out of the budget, but it will mean more time to spend with the family. Similarly, a new business owner may be reluctant to hire a virtual assistant or accountant, but working non-stop to be a jack-of-all-trades could be bad for one’s health.

The important thing is to offer a product or service that a customer sees as worth parting with their money. For example, satisfaction from  a great meal at a restaurant. Lots of laughter after a day at the theme park. Smiles and selfies after a great haircut.

A positive experience for customers is key when providing a service. Often high prices go hand in hand with great service or an experience customers can’t go without.

An Experience One Can’t Refuse

If you want to feel like royalty, having a meal at a five-star restaurant is one solution. It’s not just about delicious food; it’s about the experience of being in a posh environment and feeling special for the day.

Whether you can afford five-star restaurant meals daily or just once a birthday, you can live the life of luxury for that meal. You start by dressing up. You go to a pricier part of town where parking is twice as costly, and menus have higher prices, and find yourself seated at a table in a place with fancy decor.

The server pours you a glass of wine (and refills it from the bottle – you don’t serve yourself), and you order $100+ seafood appetizers served in a tower. When you look over, you see the open kitchen where the food is being prepared, and enjoy entrees that are $40 to $100 each.

Similarly, a visit to a theme park is about adventure, time with friends and family, and memories. The price of parking, the entry ticket, and the food can be shocking. But despite the cost, people still go because the fun and the experience is worth it. 

You pay for the framed photo to capture a moment at a ride, or pay for souvenirs to remind yourself that “you were there”. You experience the day once, and then the day is gone, but the pictures are what you get to keep. 

Create an experience that customers cannot refuse. Treat someone like royalty for an hour with a massage or with an expensive meal and live music. These are the irresistible offers that people desire. 

An Irresistible, Exclusive Offer 

Raising the price tag can create exclusivity, but money can’t buy everything. In some cases, your ability to get in on a special offer is what makes the opportunity so irresistible. 

For example, an offer is available only to VIP members or those with a “platinum-level” membership. How worthwhile are those offers? Only those who have the membership will be able to tell you! 

In most cases, a willingness to pay more money gives you that special experience. At the theatre, paying double for the ticket gives you access to a special area for adults only. You get a recliner seat with headrest, a swivel table, and access to food and drinks (including alcohol) that you can consume in the dark during the movie. 

Another type of luxury experience is one that seems to go against logic.

An example of how money can’t buy you everything is the experience of buying an Hermes bag at an Hermes store. Whether you’re a millionaire or billionaire, you need to know the Hermes culture to get a bag.

First, you have to know the lingo. You can’t just walk into a store and say that you’re there to buy an Hermes bag. You need to buy Hermes products, such as a scarf, a belt, or jewelry. Having a purchasing history of spending several thousand in their store in the past helps. It also helps to build a relationship with a sales agent. The sales agent can tell you about the bags they have in the store.

When it’s your time to buy a handbag, you are taken into a private room and shown one or (if you’re lucky) a few Birkin bags while enjoying a glass of champagne. The bags may not be the size or color you had in mind, but if you decide not to buy, going to the store again won’t increase your chances of getting the bag of your choice. Either you buy the bag that you’re shown, or you don’t.

It’s a different approach to selling luxury items. Even if you can afford to spend more than $10,000 for one Birkin bag, there’s no guarantee that you’ll get what you want. The seller has control.

The key to these exclusive experiences, whether they cost $50 at the VIP theatre, or $10,000 at the store, is providing a product or service that makes the customer feel great about the experience.

Key Takeaways

Tempting offers abound. Ice cream on a hot day. Tickets to see your favorite musician. An irresistible offer brings customers and clients. These offers could be products at the right price point, an enjoyable experience, or a worthwhile service. The irresistible offer is one that customers cannot go without.

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