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How To Start A Home-Based Resume Writing
Business
Do you find yourself at work daydreaming of running a home-based business,
only to become paralyzed by the fear of start-up costs and how to get
started? If you are a good listener who enjoys helping people and have
skills in the areas of researching, writing, and formatting documents on
the computer, you might want to consider becoming a resume writer. Make no
mistake – the industry is huge and competitive, and you will not get rich
quickly. You can depend on a steady income if you work hard, but it won’t
be immediate. The national salary average for a home-based resume writer
ranges from $25,000 to $100,000 depending on how much marketing you do,
how many clients you can manage weekly, how much you charge, and if you
are working for yourself, in partnership with someone, or employing
subcontractors to write your clients’ resumes and cover letters.
GETTING STARTED
If you are currently working and are not in a financial position to take a
risk, keep your job and start slowly by working only in the evenings and
on weekend. As a home-based entrepreneur, you must feel comfortable
bringing clients into your home. If you have small children and your home
does not have a separate entrance, make sure someone is able to watch your
children to avoid interruption. Make sure your family is supportive and is
willing to keep the house clean and quiet when you know you are expecting
a client. If you are not comfortable with meeting clients in person, you
can decide to work strictly over the Internet. Some resume writes meet at
local libraries and coffee shops to conduct their client in-take
interviews.
START-UP COSTS
To succeed as a resume writer does require a lot of determination and hard
work, but it does not have to cost an unreasonable amount of money to get
started. Start up costs will vary depending on your investment. To begin,
you will want to purchase an up-to-date computer with high-speed Internet
access and a good word processor such as MS Word or WordPerfect. Ideally,
you should have a wireless laptop so you can sit somewhere comfortably
when you work or for when you want to take your computer on the road for
whatever reason. You will also need a laser printer, a desktop or internal
fax (such as e-fax.com), and a second telephone line if you live with
people who use the phone a lot. Supplies include toner and resume paper
(http://www.southworth.com) if you are providing resume prints to clients
(usually local resume services; Internet-based clients are satisfied with
the electronic version of their resume). Mailing clients hard prints of
their resumes is an added cost to them and you since you must charge tax
on a tangible item. Good resume paper averages three to ten cents per
sheet and postage costs depend on how many prints you are sending (can be
a lot if the resume is two pages).
MARKETING YOUR BUSINESS
There are two sure-fire ways to generate new business. If you are looking
to start small, local advertising in the Yellow Pages is the best way to
get started. At first you can begin with an in-column print ad (simply
having a commercial telephone number gives you a free line listing in the
Yellow Pages under your business category, but will not generate as much
business as an ad would) and eventually graduate to display ads with color
or large black print ads. Often, the charge goes directly on your monthly
phone bill.
The other way is to launch a website. Unless you can do your own website,
you will need to hire a web designer. Cost range from $200 and up for a
basic website – and will increase significantly depending on what you want
done. You will need to tell your web designer what you want the website to
say and how you want it to look and work for you. So be sure to do your
homework by looking at other websites to get a feel for content and
design.
After you have a website developed, potential clients must be able to find
you on the Internet. That involves Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
techniques. This is the difference between coming up in Google, Yahoo, and
MSN one page 1 or 150. You can do Internet research on SEO strategies and
teach yourself the necessary skills (recommended for the small business
owner) or you can hire someone to do it for you. SEO costs range, and can
be as much as $3,000 to get started and as much as $1,000 a month to
maintain and increase your page ranking. There is also SEO software on the
market that you can purchase to help you manage the process.
DEVELOPING YOUR SKILLS
Client relationships and the art of resume writing and cover letter
writing are probably the hardest part of all. There are so many
occupations out there that you must have a general understanding of most
of them to engage in a good conversation with a jobseeker. They must be
made to feel confident that you know what you are talking about and will
be able to do their resume and cover letter. And, it is important that you
know what you are doing in order to develop a good resume. Today’s
jobseeker is very savvy and is capable of writing a fairly decent resume
using a vast array of free information available to them in resume sample
books and on the Internet. They hire professional resume writers because
they need someone to provide consultative advice and to write a resume and
cover letter in way that they cannot. You can visit many free Internet
sites such as the Occupational Outlook Handbook or rent resume sample
books from the library to study various job types, client situations, and
wording. The best way to learn is working directly with clients. They will
tell you what you need to know simply by answering your questions and
telling you what they do, which should include their accomplishments.
A slow, but effective and affordable way to get started is to volunteer
your free resume writing services. Who wouldn’t take advantage of that,
considering today’s professional resume writer charges anywhere from $89
for a very basic resume to $1,500 for a comprehensive executive resume.
You can advertise your free services at your local community college,
library, and homeless shelter, as well as help friends, family, and
neighbors. Don’t expect to generate new business this way. It could
happen, but it is not likely.
Once you have gained a working knowledge of various occupational areas and
have mastered the art of interviewing clients, you will need to have very
good word processing and document formatting skills so you can create an
attractive resume. You will also need to have a knowledge of the resume
writing process so you can strategically lay the resume out on paper in
the proper manner. For example, you should know that the Education section
for a new college graduate is the first section before work experience
unless their work experience is extensive. In short, you need to know what
will sell your client (jobseeker) to a hiring company. This is why the
resume is called a marketing tool.
When you are done creating the resume, the client will let you know if
they are happy with the results and will work with you on revisions. When
it is finalized, it is recommended to only send an email version of the
resume to clients because they need to learn how to modify their resumes
if they want to ensure a successful job search campaign (this is something
you must teach them). This is the more affordable and efficient solution
for both you and your clients because the hard prints quickly become
obsolete. You should never send a cover letter in hardcopy because the
cover letter must be personally addressed to the hiring manager/company.
This should only be provided in electronic form i.e. email or disk/CD.
Another very important form of the resume the client will need is a plain
text version (ASCII). You will need to learn how to convert and format the
resume to plain text so the client can upload their resume to major job
boards such as monster.com, hotjobs.com, and careerbuilder.com.
DEFINING YOUR BUSINESS
A resume writer falls into two categories – a resume generalist or niche
market. A resume generalist writes for all occupational disciplines and a
niche market resume writer specializes in one occupation such as teachers,
or a career level such college students. If you decide to target a niche
market, you will be expected to have an expertise in this area. So be sure
to master everything you need to know in that occupational area. You might
not get as much business as a generalist would in the beginning, but as
the years progress you will grow your niche business if you work hard and
smart.
ESTABLISHING CREDIBILITY
Job seekers need to know they can trust you before paying you. One way is
to establish yourself with resume writing organizations. They include the
National Resume Writers’ Association (nrwaweb.com), the Professional
Association of Resume Writers (parw.com), Career Masters Institute (cminstitute.com),
and the Professional Resume Writers and Research Association (prwra.com).
Annual memberships range from $150 to $175. You will have the opportunity
to network with other resume writers on an e-list, have access to monthly
newsletters, attend annual conventions (conventions are a few hundred
dollars to attend), and get certified by taking (tough) certifying tests
to get certified as a professional resume writer. Each organization has
their own guidelines. Modest test taking fees average a couple of hundred
dollars and the average first-time pass rate is 50% with the opportunity
to re-test without having to pay additional fees. After that, the wait
time is generally six month or a year to test again for a fee.
LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS
Check with your local Chamber of Commerce and accountant to set up your
business structure, business registration, and taxes.
Written By
Ann Baehr
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Writers
Profile
Ann Baehr is a CPRW and President of Best Resumes of New York.
Notable credentials include her former role as Second Vice President of
NRWA and contribution to 25+ resume and cover letter sample books. To
learn more visit
http://www.e-bestresumes.com or see view resume samples, visit
http://www.e-bestresumes.com/resume_samples.htm
resumesbest@earthlink.net
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