Hay Day Economics

Hay Day

 Sorry for the lack of updates. I had Certified Financial Planner test prep classes during weekends and it took a lot out of me (not really, just looking for an excuse). I will be sharing about the things I learnt, but this article will focus on the things I learn from my daughter's (7 years old) and my (32 years old) favorite game (for a while), Hay Day.

When she started playing it, she was hooked. I had to check on what she was getting hooked on because games these days, they change your behavior. It's almost like salat, you check in at least five times a day. I asked her for a tutorial, then I started to get hooked on it and learned a few things.

1. The relationship of production and wealth.
You can only make money if you produce something. You buy machines to make clothes and food, then the money will come. Life's not so different. A company hires you because you produce something and the company gives your income in return.
If you're looking to increase your income, there are two things you can do, ask for a raise, or produce something else. I'm not good at negotiation, I cannot sell myself, but maybe there are things that people need that I can help. List the things that you can offer and how much you'll charge. Voila.

2. Accumulate by managing consumption.
One. You start with land and capital (also an important thing). Two. You buy seeds of hay and corn from your capital. Three. You produce but you don't consume all. You save some left and you start back at one by preserving the capital and reusing the land. With that, you accumulate and able to expand.

3. Expand then comes the complications and boredom
This is the part where things started to get complicated. I had so many machines and produce, it was getting a little overwhelming. It's actually where I started to get bored with the game. I'm probably not the guy to own a big enterprise. Not a future Gates or Bezos.

I'm not sure if money will bring complications and boredom, but the good news is with money all you need is a brush, spit, rinse routine to accumulate and reach prosperity.

One way to massively improve your productivity at work

(Source: http://www.personal-development-is-fun.com/improve-efficiency-and-productivity.html)

Do you forget that meetings or calls were scheduled?
Do you find yourself over worked?
Do you find it difficult to quantify your efforts to your colleagues and bosses?
Do you find yourself in a blind spot at work? Not knowing what to do next?
Do you find yourself saying 'I dont know what I might do in the next few hours, how can you ask me whether I would be free on Friday afternoon'?
Do you find it easy to procrastinate because feel that you have only a couple of things to do today?

If your answer to any of these questions is a yes, then chances are you do not maintain a To-Do List.



(Source: http://stevevernonstoryteller.wordpress.com/2014/07/06/day-6-at-nanowrimo-making-a-to-do-list/)

A simple way to exponentially improve your productivity at work is to maintain a To-Do list

A To-Do list can be maintained in a diary or through an app

It will help you in the following ways:

a) Plan ahead: You will always be planning ahead. This will soon become a way of life. It will not only improve your professional life but also enhance your life skills.

b) Sense of accomplishment: A to do list will force you to write down what you need to complete. Once you complete a task, just put up a tick mark sign (✔) next to it. At the end of the day, when you see that you have completed twenty tasks, it will give you a huge sense of achievement and motivate you to work harder.

c) In Control: You will always be in control of your schedule. You will find your self using your time efficiently. And most importantly, you will find the courage to say NO.

d) Appreciation: You will be surprised to know that several people report late for meetings, forget to get back on their deliverables and are mostly clueless about what to do next. A To-Do list will transform you into a professional who respects time and people. This will certainly get you appreciation and rewards.



(Source: https://agoracommodities.com/success/)

Visiting India? Here are some useful Indian websites

According to analytics provided by Blogger and Google Analytics, almost half of my blog's visitors come from outside India. US internet users form the second largest group of visitors to my blog.



(Source: http://www.skillansafaris.com/david-skillan-clients.html)

Therefore I thought of writing an article for my readers from outside India.

This article is about websites that would be useful for foreigners who are either in India or are planning to visit India.

Useful Indian websites:

a) Olacabs.com: Gone are the days of haggling with uncouth cabbies, being worried about safety and having a terrible riding experience. There are several private cab services in India today who provide world class service. My personal favourite is Ola Cabs. Apart from Ola Cabs one can also check out Meru and Tab Cab. However Meru and Ola Cabs are widely spread across the country. Even Uber has entered India but the feedback so far has been discouraging.

b) Zomato.com: Planning to be adventurous and try out that Tandoori Pomfret in Hotel Sea Food International? Well, read the reviews on Zomato.com before doing that!

c) Hotels.com: Want to shortlist and book a good hotel to stay in India? I would go for Hotels.com. Other websites are Yatra.com, Makemytrip.com and goibibo.com. I would recommend Hotels.com as it is quite easy to use and they dont pester you later with promotional phone calls.

d) Flipkart.com: Broke your phone while riding your bike on the streets of Panjim? Fear not. Just order from Flipkart.com or even Amazon.in. Apart from mobile phones, you can order several other items from these websites.

e) Quikr.com: Bought that treadmill as you were planning to stay in India for 2 years. However due to some emergency, you have to leave the country within 4 weeks. Fear not. You can quickly get a buyer for your treadmill on Quikr.com or Olx.in

f) Practo.com: Feeling ill after eating that Tandoori Pomfret? Want to visit a doctor? Don't know which doctor might be the right one to visit? Heck! Don't know where can you find a doctor? Practo will help you!

g) Times of India: Will let you know what is happening in India. You must also read The Hindu, Telegraph and The Hindustan Times.

h) Moneycontrol.com: Interested in Indian stock markets? Because the entire world surely seems interested!

i) To buy a Sim Card: Read this detailed article about a foreigner's experience of buying pre paid sim cards in India.

j) Justdial.com: One of the very few internet technology companies in India to get listed, Justdial is a fantastic online classifieds. A random need such as Phone number of a towing service in Matunga in Mumbai can be fulfilled through Justdial.com. I would rate their service as excellent!

k) 99acres.com: Planning to buy or rent out an accommodation? Apart from 99acres, there is Magicbricks.com as well!

l) IRCTC: Last but not the least. Brave enough to experience the real India by travelling in a train? And braver to book tickets through IRCTC? Well, this will not only test your courage but also your patience! :)

I have included as many websites as I could.

Do let me know if you are looking for something specific and I will be more than willing to help!

Why is it important for your prospect to say NO than a Yes

(Source: http://www.blogging4jobs.com/business/the-girl-who-cant-say-no/)

Ever floundered with that prospect who had promised business many months ago?

However every time you follow up, these are the responses you get:

a) Still awaiting approval from a department/superior

b) Needs some more time to analyze and compare with other proposals

c) Been busy with other projects

d) This has been put on a back burner 

And my personal favorite:

e) Will begin next month

Various research studies have confirmed that it is very difficult for people to say no.

One of them talks about 'avoiding conflict' being a reason to not say no.

And there are several other reasons.

A sales person needs to manage time very well.

Here is what happens when a prospect doesn't say yes:

a) Sales person will keep chasing that prospect who has promised a big order but ignore the smaller ones who are willing to begin soon

b) Salesperson's time gets wasted

c) Salesperson's resources get wasted

d) With every meeting Salesperson's size of dejection keeps increasing 

There is no point in wasting 80% of one's time in chasing these prospects who have promised huge business but haven't said yes.

Here is a simple way to cross them off your pipeline.

While questioning your prospect, here is an important question to ask:

•  If  we come on board, will you begin working with us within the next 3 weeks? (This is assuming that 3 weeks is your sales cycle and is also an industry standard for the prospect's purchase cycle)

That is it.

Try doing this and see how your pipeline gets filled with those who want to begin working with you right away.

You will start closing deals soon!

Therefore, sometimes, no in sales is more important than a yes!

Why we buy insurance products

The first financial product that I bought (around two decades back) was an Aviva ULIP policy. The amount of time I spent in choosing the policy was 10 minutes (to get rid of that agent). The premium amount I was convinced to choose was exhausting my Sec 80 limit (1.2 lakhs per annum) for income tax purpose. The worst part, I was single with no financial responsibilities and barely starting my career. 

This is the classic case of mis-buying (I don't call it mis-selling) simply because I was 

• Not sure what does investment means
• Did not understand meaning of "insurance"  
• Wanted to cover my a**, by saving income tax

Thankfully, I learned, understood and got richer in the personal finance world. I closed my ULIP after two premiums, thus spending 2 lakhs to learn a valuable lesson. Don't "invest" in "insurance".

The key points to understand is, don't buy insurance because 

1. You want to save tax
2. You want to grow your money by investing
3. As a diversification tool
4. To get rid of agent/relative selling the product
5. You are a conservative investor and dont know where to park your money

The only valid reason to buy any product containing the name "insurance" is to ensure that if you die during your working life, your family does not face financial burden. 

Let's keep aside emotions for now and think purely in practical terms. 

Do the following cases cause any financial implications to family if following person dies :

1) If your 2 or 5 years or college going child?

2) Unmarried person with parents still earning?

3) Housewife with no earnings or loans?

4) 65 years old widower with children settled and earning?

If the answer to above question is "No" for all cases, then I still don't understand why people take life insurance policies in the name of their kids or parents, on which there are no dependants. 

The only type of insurance policy you ever need is a TERM policy. It provides the cheapest risk cover. Since any other type of insurance policy whether it is endowment policy, whole-life policy, money-back policy or ULIP, they are combination of (term policy + saving scheme). 

The term-plan component provides the risk-cover and the saving scheme provides the cash value. As a matter of fact the term component is costlier than a stand-alone term policy and the saving scheme gives marginal returns compared to other investment avenues. 

I have heard many a times the argument "If I survive, term plan will return nothing, but other policies will give me back some money!!" This is the most stupid argument you can find. Why it is so difficult to understand that they are giving back your own money with marginal returns and charging you for that? If you have invested that surplus money in an MF over same period, you would have got much more. 

The simple fact is that insurance companies are into a profitable business and hence any premium calculation they do for any policy is going to be more profitable to them rather than the customer. I am yet to see an insurance product that beats the (TERM + MF) combination over the policy period.

Your customer's security guard could be earning more than you!

(Sources: http://tinyurl.com/pseobg4)

During one of my sales calls, I had come across an old man who looked to be around 70 years.

He was doubling up as a receptionist and a security guard. (More about the inappropriateness of having an old man as the security guard later).

I started chatting with him.

He had a distinguished personality, cultured dialect and had lived a full life.

The following were the highlights of the conversation:

a) His mother was a Englishwoman! (What are the chances?) She never went back to England after meeting his father.
b) He had served in the armed forces for a few years.
c) He had three houses. In Mumbai. Had put up a couple of them on rent.

Ok. What!? Did I read properly?

Oh yes you did.

Three houses, In Mumbai. The rent from those two houses was adding up to his salary.

His total income. I must say. Was more than that of many people, with a post graduate degree, earn.

 This got me thinking.

What if I was a banker. Or an agent selling mutual funds. Or a stock broker. Or even a real estate agent.

This man would be a prospect!

And I am sure there are many like him.

What are marketers or sales people doing to reach out to this audience? Forget about reaching out. Do they even speak with such people properly?

So be like Death.



(Source: http://tinyurl.com/kd8qe63)

Because death treats everyone equally.
And that is why death gets treated well!
To understand, please read this story.

Do you dread Sunday evenings? Not looking forward to Monday morning? Want to change this? Read on...

In a few hours, that scary looking monster will be here.

No, not him:



(Source: http://tinyurl.com/q7trrlh)

But this:



(Source: http://youth.conwayfumc.org/)

If you cannot make the co-relation you will be surprised.

That is because for many of us:



(Source: http://www.picnapic.com/sadness-is-a-sunday-evening/)


Are you one of those who:

a) Cannot understand how can anyone love what they do
b) Forwards messages over SMS, Watsapp and Facebook about the gloominess of getting back to work on a Monday morning.
c) Apart from Sundays and long weekends, the only time that you are cheerful is the day on which your salary gets credited.
d) Looks forward to update your CV and cover letter once a month?
e) Is tempted to switch off phone and get disconnected from 'everyone at work' while going on a holiday? Even though your inputs are critical.
f) Applies to opportunities posted on iimjobs.com or any other similar website atleast twice a week.

If you have said yes to atleast two of these questions, then you are clearly unhappy with your job.

Many of us start working from the age of 20 and plan to do so till we are 60. Let us consider we might end up not working for anywhere between 6 months and 2 years during this period either due to a break for studies or forced leave due to a long illness/tragedy or a sabbatical for a back packing trip which might last a few months.

Inspite of these pauses, we would end up working 38 years of our lives.
This means we spend more than 119 crore seconds of our life working.
I used this to calculate.

Do you want to spend 119 crore seconds of your life doing something that you hate?

If you want to avoid this, do the following:

a) Challenge the status quo: Take up an opportunity which you always wanted to try. But couldn't. I know what you would say. 'Oh I had that education loan EMI to pay off'. 'My household expenses will be affected if my income reduces'. 'What will my family and friends think? That I have wasted twenty five years of my life doing something?' Frankly, these questions will never end. And these questions are actually excuses. Speak up. Ask your family to support. You will be surprised by the outcome.

So do something like what Chandler did. If you didn't get the context, please google F.R.I.E.N.D.S.+Chandler+Advertising
If you haven't watched F.R.I.E.N.D.S., please do so immediately.
Rest of your life can wait! :P

This will certainly help you find your calling.

b) Ask: If you among those who knows that moving from field A to field B will be better, then start asking. Ask your colleagues, your employer, boss, friends etc about how you can go from field A to field B. Find people in field B. Speak to them. Is field B just a case of the grass being green on the other side? Or will field B make you feel like Hugh Hefner?



(Source: http://tinyurl.com/m6a6o5h)

c) Pursue a course: Although I am not a fan of higher education and would recommend slugging it out by getting your hands dirty, you can check out courses offered by reputed institutes which offer opportunities in the field you want to enter.

For example, Social Samosa conducts workshops in Social Media. You can check their offerings here: http://school.socialsamosa.com/

d) Start learning on your own: I would certainly recommend this. A curious child with internet access (with parental controls :P) can learn a lot more than child going to school and having no access to the internet. Google and Youtube are the best teachers today.

For example if graphology excites you, check this out: http://tinyurl.com/poxv4t9


I would like to wrap this article up by quoting Voltaire: “The more I read, the more I acquire, the more certain I am that I know nothing.”


Please do share your comments.
Acerbic or encouraging.
But do comment!

Want to know about 6 powerful skills that can help you succeed in sales? Here they are!

(Source: http://brandongaille.com/how-to-be-a-successful-salesperson-top-qualities-and-characteristics/)

Are you a budding sales person?

Or one of those rare young ones who is contemplating a career in sales?

These are must have skills which will help you grow exponentially:


Listening:

During a conversation with a prospect, a good sales person will listen most of the time. Listening intently will answer many questions that one might have. Let us face it. Nobody likes to be encountered by a motor mouth. We all like to be listened to. This is a basic human trait! So you may or may not be listening to your partner, but do listen to your prospect/client :P


Questioning:

Don't be afraid of asking questions. Why do you need this? What is your expectation? Have you tried a similar product/service earlier? What is your budget? The more questions you ask, the more you will get closer to closing the sale.


ROI:

You will be surprised to know that many salespeople don't approach this part at all! The first two skills coupled with your knowledge should help you present a strong case about return on investment (ROI) to your prospect.
Even when you buy a phone for Rs 5000, you are evaluating several questions. How long will the phone last? What are the features? What can other phones give me at that price point? What will I get if I spend Rs 2000 extra to buy an expensive phone?
So how can you expect a prospect to spend Rs 1 million per year on your product/service without getting clear answers?


Read:

Mint, Financial Express, Business Line
TOI, Hindustan Times
Mid-day, Mumbai Mirror

Intelligent Investor, India After Gandhi

National Geographic, TIME

Yourstory, Techcrunch

Read! As much as you can! Whatever you can.

I would recommend reading this article published in Mint today.


Share:

Share credible information. That is the best way to receive credible information. Share information with your colleagues, competitors, customers and prospects. Help them out. You will be surprised about how many good things come back to you!


Handling objection:

What if a prospect says no? You can read this


Try them out. And do let me know whether these helped!

Who has? & How many?

Do we know how many Indian users are there on various social networking sites?



(Source: http://tinyurl.com/o43al3p)

Many?
No...

Lots
No...

Quite a bit!
Ummm ok....

How about some numbers then?
Sure!

Let us begin with Twitter!
According to this article, Twitter will have 18.1 million Indian users by end of 2014.
This means they have 1.8 crore Indian handles.
By the end of this year, Twitter will have 220+ million users.
Which means close to 10% are Indian users.
India has the third largest user base for Twitter.

Facebook recently crossed 100 million Indian users.
84 million users access their account by phone.
In 2010, FB had 8 million Indian users.
92 million users were added in 4 years.
This means FB added 2.5 lakh Indian accounts every day in the last four years!
Phew!
India has the second largest user base for FB

Linkedin has 26 million Indian users.
It accounts for 8% of the global user base
43% of its traffic in India comes from Mobile devices.
India has the second largest user base for Linkedin


So summarizing this would mean:

FB - 10 crore Indians

Linkedin - 2.6 crore Indians

Twitter: 1.8 crore Indians

Hope this helps while throwing numbers in your conversations :)

How to waste a sales person's day?

What should a sales person be doing?

(Source: http://tinyurl.com/o2pb4k4)

Chatting with his colleagues?

No

Analyse reports?

No

Lounge in an A/C office?

No

Discuss 'strategy' with his bosses?

No

Boss around the techies?

Ummm...sometimes...but not so much! :P

Attending sales calls?

(Source: http://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=71509421&f=27)

I feel that a salesperson should be just meeting clients and prospects.

And doing nothing else.

At least 2 meetings a day if not more (assuming there are 50-100 clients and prospects).

Unfortunately in many organizations a salesperson manages just 3 meetings a week. 

Can you imagine what a big failure is that?

Anyway, this post is about the different ways of wasting a sales person's day.

Here are a few:

Ad hoc reports

(Source: http://www.quickmeme.com/p/3vqzq4)

A salesperson is randomly asked to share ad hoc reports. Some of these reports might take an hour or two of one's working hours. This is criminal!

Reviews:

Various departments in different companies would point this reason out as the most efficient way to kill time!

Salespersons are asked to participate in needless reviews.

These reviews also hurt morale and fritter away money 

(Source: http://www.salary.com/2013-wasting-time-at-work-survey/)

Lack of a CRM system:

One may find it ironical that companies that aggressively depend on sales do not invest in a CRM system. Not even a basic one! This results in various departments bothering the sales person to ask for client details again and again. 

(Source: http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/36i2pg)

Would you like to share some more?

Feel free to leave your comments

And also:

(Source: http://www.pak101.com/c/funnypictures/view/7180/Baby/funny_baby_comment)

What to do when the deal doesn't close?

Been chasing that important prospect for a long time?

The business from that prospect would be worth Rs 2 lakhs per month.

You are already feeling this way and are planning to upgrade to an iPhone6. 

(Source: http://tinyurl.com/o48lh6a)

But the prospect evaded your last phone call.

That made you sweat a little.

Today when you call up the prospect from a colleague's number, he immediately answers your call! However when he realizes who is on the other side of the phone, you can sense him going from 100 to 0 in 3 seconds! :P

He apologizes and informs you that his company had to select another vendor.

So what do you do?

Meekly say 'It is Ok' and disconnect the call?

If you are doing that, you are doing this:

(Source: http://tinyurl.com/mkbjyrm)

You must do the following:

a) Post mortem analysis: Call up the prospect after a couple of days. Inform him that you will be in his area and you thought it would be a good idea to catch up as you have 40 minutes between meetings. Chances are, he would be willing to meet you. Take him out for coffee or for lunch. Only 15% of your conversation should be about the deal you lost. But your questions should be pointed enough to figure out what went wrong. 

b) Take reference: Ask the prospect to give you a reference during the post mortem analysis. Do understand that he will be very eager to help out and will surely give some fantastic references.

c) Keep in touch with the prospect: Here are some ways of doing that. 

d) Get in touch with other people from the prospect's company: This will help you get in touch with all the important members in the buying cycle. Every member is a different human being. You will never know how soon the next opportunity might arise! Because one of them might surely inform you before the primary point of contact does it. This will also help you when the prospect's company is buying from you the next time as you will be aware of your proposal's position in every step of the buying cycle 

e) Complete your homework: Since you were one of the bidders the last time, the prospect might have not shared the entire information with you. Buyers always withhold information. Use the time from a failed deal to a new opportunity in gathering as much information as you can. So you would have completed your homework the next time your proposal is due for a submission!

Finally, notice that I didn't refer the company as a prospect. I referred to the individual as a prospect. Any passionate sales person will testify that every individual you meet is a prospect. Because individuals keep moving around. They may join some other company. Or they might turn entrepreneurs. So keep in touch!

What does a salesman do on a Monday?

What happens when one make a sales call on a Monday morning like this?:

(Source: http://activatedstrategies.com/)

These are some of the responses one might get:

A) Not so angry response:

 

B) Angry response:

(Source: http://www.cartoonmuslim.com/2012/09/a-naruto-themed-to-response-to.html)

C) Very Angry response:

(Source: http://listcrux.com/top-10-things-people-say-when-they-are-super-angry/)

So what should a sales person do on a Monday?

• Call or meet only those who have explicitly asked to be contacted on a Monday
• Add prospect to the sales tracker
• Read (As rest of the week makes it very difficult to catch up on reading apart from the news papers)
• Plan the schedule for rest of the week
• Complete pending tasks
• Catch up with colleagues

The moot point is - Don't make a sales call on a Monday!

In Search of the Way to Save

Looking to the stars - Calvin & Hobbes

Personal finance is personal. Rule-of-thumbs may be a good start, but it surely isn't for everyone. I certainly have my own way to budget, and out of all the apps I've looked through to help me, not one found to be a perfect fit. I then stumbled upon an iOS app, earmark. It's a social saving-spending app for you to set the top five things you'd like to buy and share it with everyone, including status updates when you forego spending to save for said five items. Pretty neat.

Three things I like about this:

1. Clarity. It would help me take a step back and remind myself that I have saving goals to achieve. In moments of need of clarity, I think this app would help me when my mind start playing the justifying-a-purchase games.
2. Motivation. We are social beings and our motivations sometimes require that social interaction. "Not buying this for that trip, proud of myself", and then receiving a supporting reply from a friend, "you go girl! let's make it to Makkah". Seriously, saving for hajj is hard...
3. Communication. Sometimes other people make our personal spending plans. Hanging out, do this, eat that. Those things add up.When we make it known to friends we're saving for something, it makes communicating personal intentions and rejecting an offer a lot easier.
4. Behaviour. People get easily hooked on social media outlets. If we get hooked on the app, we get hooked on our goals, we will achieve it.

What I don't like, but they might actually be right, is;

"We hate budgeting. 

So does everyone, ever.

We hate budgeting. So does 99.9% of the population.

We also like spending money. So does 100% of the population. 

Earmark helps people who hate budgeting save money while spending it."

I like that I've set myself a budget. It's life changing. But I guess for those who haven't, this app might actually work. For myself. I don't know. I don't have an iPhone. What I'm interested in most is whether I can apply earmarking [designate (something, typically funds or resources) for a particular purpose.] for myself.

So, what I'm proposing to do is to:

1. Unify my goals. I'm going to follow the findings that people become better savers when they have a single goal (pdf link). So I'll unify a single goal to the items I'd like to buy with a goal of higher calling or a long-term based goal like retirement.
2. Partition. Increase the chance of success of earmarking by separating the money physically, especially if the money has a visual reminder (pdf link). So, create a custom printed wristlet, or wallet (2), with a picture as my reminder.

Now, if I have a wallet for zakah, what are my visual cues...

"Is the description of Paradise, which the righteous are promised, wherein are rivers of water unaltered, rivers of milk the taste of which never changes, rivers of wine delicious to those who drink, and rivers of purified honey, in which they will have from all [kinds of] fruits and forgiveness from their Lord, [...]"

47.Surat Muĥammad (Muhammad; 15)

"He will forgive for you your sins and admit you to gardens beneath which rivers flow and pleasant dwellings in gardens of perpetual residence. That is the great attainment."

61. Surat Aş-Şaf (The Ranks; 12)

One way ticket to Jannah. Insha'Allah.

6 ways to bag that job which you want!

Checked out an interesting job application on iimjobs?
Applied?
What do you think are your chances?

A recruiter or a head hunter might get anywhere between 200 and 2000 applications for a single middle level position.
Which means your chances are between 1 out of 200 and 2000.

• 1 out of 20 applicants get into Harvard  (Source: http://tinyurl.com/qjd6brk)
• 1 out of 200 applications get into an IIM (Source: http://tinyurl.com/lujvlam)

Theoretically, you have a better chance of getting a seat in Harvard or even an IIM rather than that job which has more than 200 applications!


Here are a few ways that can improve your chances:

a) Quantify your achievements: In our resume, most of us state that we increased revenue or decreased cost. Or worked on that project that was praised by leadership. How about including some numbers? Rather than stating your got more customers, you could write that you increased revenue by 500%. Obviously, this is assuming that you DID increase revenue by 500%. This is because your customer count might have just increased from 50 to 80. But the overall business from new customers would have increased by 500%.

b) Include a cover letter: I had once noticed a Head of Digital Marketing of one India's biggest blue chip companies bemoan the fact that less than 5% of applicants had included a cover letter. And he wasn't going to consider those without a cover letter. So there! 95% of competition is out!

c) Complete your Linkedin Profile: Here is a simple question. What do you do when you are introduced to someone? You immediately check their Linkedin profile. Dont you think the recruiter would also be doing this? Linkedin also enables you to directly apply to jobs with your Linkedin profile. So update it!

d) Brand YOU: Today you need to inform the world two things - What you know and Who you are. Use Twitter, Facebook and Blogger (or Wordpress) to share your views with the world. It could be about anything. Treat your digital profiles as a brand. If you are an accountant, I am sure you must be thinking 'What the hell? How can social media help me out?'. Well. Write about your subject! Or your passion. If you are stuck at a boring dead end job, this could also open up avenues!

e) Ask!: Many of us don't ask! We don't let our well wishers know that we are looking out. So just ask for help.

f) Stay connected: Remember meeting the Head of HR of that MNC in that conference in Bangalore? You even exchanged cards! Linkedin also notifies you about his birthday. Do you call to wish him? If you dont, then start doing it. Your greetings should be genuine. But an opportunity might just knock your door!


Meanwhile in USA,..



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