Resume Writer/Coach Growth Secrets – Mary Elizabeth Bradford

Start Up & Growth Secrets from Successfully Self-Employed Resume Writers & Career Coaches: Guest Mary Elizabeth Bradford

My final guest sharing start up and growth secrets for resume writers and career coaches is the extraordinary Mary Elizabeth Bradford, a multi-certified, multi-award-winning executive resume writer and past executive recruiter. She has built a values-led company that has stood the test of time with a team helping executive clients all over the world with marketing collateral and outreach strategies.

One of my first private clients, she has some great success stories and tips to share about building and scaling!

In the interview Mary Elizabeth answers:

When did you start your business?
Tell us a little about your business.
What did you do before you started your business?
What made you decide to start your business?
At what point in your business did you find CDI?
What role has CDI played in the success you’ve achieved and what has been most valuable about it? What has your membership made possible? Did CDI provide a pivotal turning point for you?
What has having your own business made possible for you in your life?
What’s one thing you wished you had known when you first started your business, or, If you were starting your business today, what’s one thing you would have done differently?
For those who are considering a career in this field, or who are struggling in their businesses right now, what are a few key pieces of advice you’d share with them?
Is there anything else you’d like our audience to know in terms of encouragement, lessons learned, or final thoughts around being a successful career industry professional?

Plus:

Is there anything else you’d add about the ROI of working with me 1-1 in my Career Business Profit Rocket Consulting program?

About Mary Elizabeth:

Mary Elizabeth Bradford is a multi-certified and multi-award-winning executive resume writer and past executive recruiter. She is the founder of ceoresumewriter.com, the premier online source for expertly designed executive resumes, LinkedIn profiles and executive biographies for C-suite and board level executives worldwide.

As I already shared, Mary Elizabeth was one of my very first private consulting and coaching clients and one who experienced almost immediate and dramatic growth.

From what I know of her success and the role I got to play in it when we worked together 1-1, she’s being incredibly modest when she says her claim to fame is that she has built a values-led company that has stood the test of time – with a small team of expert writers and coaches who truly care. She says they are able to help their executive clients all over the world with marketing collateral – as well as with their outreach strategies.

Mary Elizabeth’s 6 Start Up & Growth Secrets (with my added commentary)

Links to CDI resources can be found in the additional resources section at the bottom of the page.

Don’t Give Up.

If you’re self-employed (or want to be), Mary Elizabeth offers sage advice for success:

“Don’t give up if you’re having a bad day. It’s just a bad day.

However, if you are consistently miserable – figure out WHAT is making you feel bad – see if you can hire someone to do that for you – or pick a date / goal you want that to happen by.

Just like a marriage – in my business I have had bad months – even bad years – where I was working too hard or something was happening that was upsetting me.

It will pass if you hang on.”

You’ve already successfully survived 100% of your bad (and good) days.

If you feel stuck, get help.

CDI is here for you.

Check out links to motivational resources in the additional resources section below.

Be the Best.

Successful, profitable entrepreneurship is not about instant gratification.

Further, there’s this little embraced secret to success I refer to as starting fast.

If you don’t look to cut corners and do the bare minimum, and instead go all in to be your best at what you do, you’ll almost be guaranteed success.

While you might have to work hard at the start, it pays off over and over and over again!

Mary Elizabeth agrees when she says:

“Be the best you can be – target in on what you want and become the person that can do that better and knows more about that topic than anyone else.

You need that as your foundation.

You’ll be safe and confident standing on it once you have built it for yourself.

Study, read, get help.”

That’s why CDI exists for association membership and why I offer my 1-1 consulting and group coaching.

We’re here to help you succeed.

Check out the supporting resources at the bottom of the page and if you’re not yet a member, join the waitlist.

Niche.

Want to waste as little time and energy in your marketing as a coach, writer, or service entrepreneur?

Mary Elizabeth says:

“Pick your niche.

It’s generally easier to grow your market base when you specialize either a type of client (miliary), industry (tech) or level (new grad).”

As you keep hearing me repeat, you’ll reach no one if you try to speak to everyone.

There are just too many competing voices so you have to pick YOUR target, figure out where they hang out, and show up there with a targeted message.

Check out the video tip and show replay on niching in the resource section at the bottom of the page.

Get a Mentor.

Mary Elizabeth says: “Get a mentor.

See someone you like and admire online – either inside or outside our industry?

Study them. Use them as your guide.

You may even wish to reach out to them – but sometimes that’s not even necessary.”

I believe, and have repeatedly seen, that we consistently get further faster when we work together.

This is one of the reasons why CDI doesn’t charge a separate fee for all our member events and instead includes them.

Not only does it save you tons of money (think $19.99-45 x 16/year) but it makes it so much easier to say YES to showing up!

When you show up, you step into curated networking experiences and opportunities to build support relationships with colleagues.

I’ve seen again and again members forming partnerships and referral relationships, finding podcast guests and subcontractors, and even collaborating to write a book.

We are all about opportunities for you to network and connect through these events and other member to member opportunities.

Visit the additional resources section at the bottom of the page for links to upcoming member events or to join our membership waitlist.

Set Up Systems.

The longer you run your entrepreneurial venture the more you’ll realize how many tasks are repetitive and how much they can slow you down.

That’s why Mary Elizabeth shared such important advice when she said:

“Set up systems.

Automate as much as you can – as you grow.

It will save you a tremendous amount of time, ensure accuracy and allow for reporting.”

Every time you slash a repetitive task, you’ll get time back!

Think about:

Vas to set things up for you and take tasks off of you.
Using CDI’s email template packet to stop rewriting the same emails over and over.
Implementing tools like the ever-popular 17Hats.
Taking advantage of CDI’s done-for-you job seeker tip sheets so you can cut down on the 1-1 freebies or hours spent on job search strategy education.

Visit the additional resources section below for links to our email templates and done-for-you white labeled job seeker tip sheets for members to give away or sell. If you’re not yet a member, you can also join the waitlist.

Get Qualified.

What have my recent guests, Mary Elizabeth Bradford, Emily Kapit, Brenda Bernstein, and Beverly Smith all had in common to achieve their phenomenal success with resume writing and career coaching businesses?

They knew that to grow you sometimes have to get out of your own way and get help.

Each of them made the smart choice to invest in professional business consulting with someone who both knew their industry and also understood how to succeed as an entrepreneur.

There is an easier, softer way and each of them have shared in their tips something similar to what Mary Elizabeth shared as my most recent guest:

“Get qualified.

Get help along the way by investing in business coaches and courses.

Pick one or two things to do each year.

The cumulative effects are profound.

It may be a certification, course, conference, speaking engagement or major media effort.”

In CDI you’ll find my 1-1 consulting, group coaching program, and multiple courses, certifications, and publicity opportunities to help you win big. I’m accepting just one more private client for June.

CDI and Mary Elizabeth

Mary Elizabeth has been a member of CDI since 2003. Her top CDI favorite things are:

Replay & Next Livestream – Something Different

Next week I will not host a show as I get ready for our member’s only included event:

Up Your Resume Writing & Design – Advice From TORI Entries That Weren’t Nominated

Until now we’ve never been able to offer a training around how non-TORI winning resumes could be made better unless it was a 1-1 paid engagement.

Thanks to a 2023 entrant I have four resumes, both classic and high-design, that were not nominated for a TORI award. In this session I’ll be using those resumes to:

Compare with winning resumes.
Point out missed opportunities.
Provide strategy around client information gathering, writing, and design.

This powerful combo leads to ah-ha moments and skills that don’t just lead to TORI nominations and wins but delight employers and are shown to make them hungry to ‘read every word’ in a resume.

While a TORI nomination/win is the lowest cost/highest ROI way to grow a resume writing business, it’s important to remember…

Your clients are going to be out there competing against job seekers who worked with TORI nominees/winners so even if you don’t plan to enter, your work needs to stand up to that level as well.

When it does, you’ll have raving fans, better testimonials, TORI wins, and positioning to raise your rates.

Members can sign up for this included event and others here >>

My weekly show will resume the following Wed, 6/05 PM Eastern at 3:45 PM Eastern streaming on CDI’s LinkedIn page, YouTube channel, and Facebook page.

I’m excited to start this new, 4-week mini series on resume writing:

Award-Winning Resume Writing Strategy & Competition ROI from TORI Winners.

Each week I’ll be joined by three different TORI award-winning resume writers who will share their resume writing and TORI tips.

Join us on Wed, 6/05/2024 to learn from TORI winners:

Deborah L. Schuster, CERM, CGRA, CPRW
Marie Plett, CERM, CPRW, BFA
Pam Foster

Again, we’ve streaming on CDI’s LinkedIn page, YouTube channel, and in our Facebook page every Wednesday at 3:45 PM Eastern. And, don’t forget to like, follow, and subscribe so you stay in the know!

Watch the Livestream Recording

Last Chance to Work with Me 1 to 1 to Grow & Position Your Business

Last chance to work with me this summer to get results like Mary Elizabeth, Irene, and my other private consulting clients.

If you know you deserve to play bigger or your tired of struggling, check out my Career Business Profit Rocket 1-1 Consulting Program to learn more about working with me. There you’ll also see client testimonials around the exciting results I’ve helped your colleagues to attain.

I love finding ways for you to be more efficient, effective, profitable, and happy with your business!

WHATEVER your goal, I can help you to achieve it!

I currently have one spot left for June-July start.