Queercents

Is attending networking events draining your business cash flow dry? Are you being eaten alive by the high cost of memberships, dues, and business dinners? Perhaps it is time to rethink your networking strategy.

Networking is perhaps the #1 way to build a business and career. I spoke about what real networking is all about in a recent post. It is not sleazy salesmen in cheap suits and it is definitely not business card exchanges that leave you with three inches of recyclable trash in your hands and no relationships to show for it.

With some networking events costing hundreds of dollars, mediocre dinner meetings costing $50 and up, and the cost of travel spiking with every moment that ticks from the funky Bush/oil company co-Presidency, you can easily drive your business budget in the ground. Any good business person knows that you need to have a real return on your investment of time, money, and energy to make any business undertaking worthwhile. So, how can you best apply those principles to the business of networking? Read the rest of this entry »

It seems like everyone I know is in the middle of a career transition. Or they’re contemplating one, or they’ve completed one. I don’t know if this is my age group (I turned thirty this year), or the time of year, or trying to be creative in the middle of a recession, but it’s a reality that can’t be ignored.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be taking a look at a handful of queer friends and acquaintances and exploring how they landed in their careers. A gay firefighter, a lesbian CEO of a startup, a gay interior designer, a transgendered community activist, a lesbian newspaper editor, and a closeted gay Navajo artist: what do they all have in common? How did their choices bring them to where they are today?

Risky Business in a Slow Economy: The Interior Designer

The small house next door has been on the market for a long time, at least since last summer. A few weeks ago the For Sale sign came down, and landscaping and patio construction began.

I finally met the new neighbors today, on my way to the laundromat. They’re a couple in their late thirties or early forties, with a little Shih Tzu dog. John pinged my gaydar immediately. (I probably pinged his too, especially since I’d just returned from the hairdresser with a new super-short haircut.) John told me he’d worked at a local retailer for over twenty years as a facilities manager, and last summer he was told his position was being eliminated. Read the rest of this entry »

“My mind is my own church.” – Thomas Paine

Last week, Penelope Trunk, my favorite career authority, wrote a post providing 4 tips that will improve productivity at work. Number 3 on her list: Go to church.

She points her brazen careerists to The New York Times article where:

Lisa Cullen reports that girls who go to church work harder than other people. Maybe you think this is because church girls are so bored in their upstanding lives that they can’t think of anything better to do than work. But I think it actually has something to do with optimism.

People who go to church regularly are more optimistic people in general, and optimism makes people feel more positive about their work. If you feel like you will affect your work in a positive way, you’re more likely to dig in and do it.

What do you think? Does faith influence optimism? And how does this translate in the workplace? Read the rest of this entry »

I have to say years ago when a colleague kept pushing me to network more I was so resistant. Even though I didn’t like the jobs or career I was in I didn’t see the connection. I always had a gut feel that equated networking with undesirable things (for me) like politics and sales in the used car salesman vein. It reminded me of all those years growing up where I was never popular, struggled fitting in, and seemed to experience rejection from my school peers on an almost daily basis. Certainly not an inspiring picture. It didn’t exactly have me clamoring to print a business card and head out the door.

What I’ve since learned now that I am a business owner is that networking isn’t any of that. Well, in some circles it still is…a flurry of desperate people trying to hand out as many business cards as possible. However, effective long term networking that matters isn’t that at all. It is about being open and creating relationships.

This morning I had the pleasure of listening to productivity expert Neen James speak on the topic of sales. She’s a lively Aussie who is known for her energetic presentation style. She started the presentation by throwing the old model of selling into the rubbish. “It is not about closing the sale. It is about opening a relationship.” As I’ve come to learn business success is all about relationships. Sure you need to deliver the goods (product or service), but you need good relationships if you are going to be successful over the long haul. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve asked this question before: how often do you hear a talk-show host ask a movie star how much money they made on their last film? Rarely. Why? Because money is still considered a taboo topic and it doesn’t play well on the circuit of celebrity chatter.

“Salary stories are intrusive. Do you ask your neighbor what they earn for their job?” That was a quote by Nicole Kidman. Even Howard Stern, who will talk about almost anything, has said before, “I don’t talk about my salary.”

But on Sunday, I learned that Gen Y is all about revealing what they make. The New York Times reported that personal finance is not so personal anymore. In this Facebook era, nothing is too private to be shared amongst friends and co-workers: Read the rest of this entry »

 As I’ve mentioned a few times, I spent last week on vacation, visiting a friend in Portland, Oregon.  I learned a great deal about composting, cereal, kayaking, heterosexual drama, and microbreweries–as well as a few things about career and finance.

First of all, saving up leave for a big vacation was definitely the way to go… I think.  I was so burned out before I left that I was trudging around like the end of the world, but my luxurious, worry-free week has me feeling like a new woman.  An extra three-day weekend in there might have helped, but clearly woman does not live on three-day weekends alone. Shifting back into gear hasn’t been too hard, either, although I did fall asleep on the couch at 7:30 last night.

That said, I do think it’s more important to take care of yourself all the time instead of letting one week every eight months do it for you. Read the rest of this entry »

LinkedIn has a Question and Answer board where I recently asked the question:

My question is whether anybody out there has personal finance recommendations for new or recent graduates. I’m open to any suggestions or ideas including products or services, books, blogs, or budgeting tools. Many of us are looking at major purchases including cars or homes. The rent vs buy decision is pertinent and any advice on that would be awesome.

Lots of great responses. Here are some of the best ones. Joseph Bowden at Citi Smith Barney suggests using Google to find a rent versus buy calculator. I found one at Dinkytown.net which looks sophisticated enough. The New York Times version I found might have a better reputational value.

Kelli Pence a controller for West Music Company, Inc wrote an especially compelling response giving advice similar to the advice I had from some of my college professors out of undergrad. Read the rest of this entry »

“Analyzing what you haven’t got as well as what you have is a necessary ingredient of a career.” – Orison Swett Marden

Mondays are my favorite day to review career books. Why? Because most people are at work and if you landed at Queercents during business hours: 1. you have too much time on your hands, 2. you’re more interested in what’s “out there” than what’s on your desk, 3. you truly believe that you can multi-task with your feedreader maximized on the monitor. You’re probably listening to an iPod too. What am I going to do with you twentysomethings?

Ok, kiddies gather around. Maybe it’s time to find the right job and here’s the book that will help you. In How’d You Score That Gig?, Alexandra Levit deconstructs sixty of the greatest, coolest, I-want-one-of-those jobs. Here’s how she did it: Read the rest of this entry »

A.J. is a college grad who moved to a suburb of Washington, D.C. for his first real job. He publishes a blog called The Guppie Life for other gay, young urban professionals. “Guppie = gay yuppie. Get it? Clever,” he writes. These are his words…

For a few months during my senior year of college, I was a model. Lately I’ve been receiving calls and emails from my agent. She wants me back in the fold.

And I’m saying no.

But before you start thinking that I’m a deluded egoist, allow me to explain. I was a model in the same way that chihuahuas are dogs— which is to say, barely. Welcome to the world of promotional modeling. Read the rest of this entry »

This recent news story was clearly designed to appeal to sentimentality. Nonetheless, you’ll likely forgive the journalist’s approach. The protagonist: Debbie Shank, a brain-injured woman whose 18-year-old son was killed while on duty in Iraq. She asks about his whereabouts only to be reminded that he’s dead. She cries each time like it’s the first time she’s hearing the news.

The antagonist: Wal-Mart.

Shank was awarded $417,000 after legal expenses from the trucking company responsible for the crash that left her brain-injured. She was an employee of Wal-Mart and was covered by their health insurance. Wal-Mart paid out $470,000 for her medical expenses. Wal-Mart sued to recoup the money, and a court decided that Wal-Mart was only entitled to the $417,000 in Shank’s trust. Wal-Mart got their money back.

Shank, who can’t work and lives in a nursing home at 52, has also exhausted all judicial resources. Her family has fallen apart and suffers financially.

Can you imagine being the spokesperson for Wal-Mart who had to defend their actions? Here’s what he had to say: Read the rest of this entry »