Business Development Solutions
Meet Clarence
This is Clarence, he was a production supervisor in a manufacturing business that was was recently purchased. He took the early retirement package offered him by the new owners, but he’s not ready to stop working. His business idea is to help new types of manufacturing businesses set up their production lines and safety systems. He’s seeking to create his own journey to a satisfying career and has turned to Skill Squirrel, where he connects with prospective clients based on his needs for a shorter work week and a desire to be selective about who he works with.
How to Promote Your Capabilities
Leverage Skills
Clarence developed a deep set of skills over his 30-year career. Working with a career coach he found on the Skill Squirrel app, he formulated a plan for starting his own business. He’s now using Skill Squirrel himself for developing professional connections and marketing his business.
Bookmark and Follow
While exploring Skill Squirrel groups for those in targeted industries he wants to reach, Clarence found a few located in his area that he joined. As he came across interesting posts within those groups, he Bookmarked them, and as he came across impressive profiles, he Followed them. These techniques allow him to easily store and recall pertinent content. He is now regularly attending a local meetup and has built new professional connections that have made some important introductions for him.
Create Profiles
Whenever Clarence joins a group, he takes advantage of the opportunity to create a profile as a member of the group. Considering he is working to get his business off the ground, he consistently uses his business name as the profile name and his logo as the profile image. He also has some public profiles, which are profiles not associated with a group, that he designs in this way too, but each one is tailored a little differently to reflect the range of his services. It’s similar to how people have different resumes for pursuing different types of jobs.
Create Portfolios
Clarence upgraded his free account to a Startup subscription so that he could add portfolios to his profiles. Just as each profile is a little different, so are his portfolios. A couple of elements he particularly likes to include in portfolios are personal videos and recommendations from his customers. He feels that portfolios add just the right amount of personal touch.
Create Posts
With his Startup subscription, in addition to creating Volunteering posts, Clarence can create Event and Service posts. Given his type of business, he has only created Service posts that describe a particular offer, and he tailors them individually for the group they appear in, but he is thinking of creating an Event post to bring together all the amazing new contacts he has made through Skill Squirrel in celebration of his business’s one year anniversary.
Endorsements & Recommendations
Clarence has a real knack for getting positive endorsements and recommendations. It shows through on his profiles and portfolios, but honestly it has more to do with his credibility. He has proven himself to be a trustworthy service provider. Plus, he regularly gives endorsements and recommendations to other members in the private groups he belongs to. Clarence believes that if you treat others with respect and fairness that you are more likely to receive the same back.
Talent Recognition Solutions
Meet Mallory
This is Mallory. She’s a recent graduate with MS seeking to enter a new industry. However, she didn’t know where to start as she spent a lot of time and energy searching for opportunities on popular job markets. Being able to occasionally work from home is important to her as are opportunities for professional growth. She’s on Skill Squirrel making new connections, promoting her portfolio, and managing her availability. Her objective is to earn some skill endorsements and digital credentials that she can share on her socials to build her talent brand.
Helping Mallory Build Her Brand
Explore Groups
When Mallory graduated from her program, she was eager to get her new career started. However, she didn’t know anyone working in the industry she wanted to enter. She had co-op placements through school, but they were not closely aligned to her interests. She joined Skill Squirrel to find relevant groups she could join and start networking within by volunteering and going to events.
Filter for Relevance
Noticing that some posts offered the ability to earn Verifiable Credentials, Mallory prioritized those options, along with location and accessibility. She particularly appreciated posts that included Physical Demands details, because the more she knows about an activity and venue, the better she can plan her attendance in advance.
Attach Credentials
Now that Mallory has earned industry related Verifiable Credentials issued through Skill Squirrel, she has attached them to her profile, which also contains links to the microcredentials she earned through her school’s program. Having this verifiable proof of her capabilities has already helped her to secure lucrative freelancing contracts.
Promote Achievements
Having upgraded her Skill Squirrel account to a Startup subscription for creating Service posts, Mallory also created portfolios that further enhance her profiles. In her portfolios, she attaches PDFs of her school transcripts. She was a top student and made the dean’s list each semester. It’s an accomplishment that she’s proud of and happy to promote.
Networking
Mallory has created her own networking group on Skill Squirrel for alumni in her program. As the administrator of this private group, she set the membership criteria, and she controls who joins. The privacy offered by the group allows her schoolmates and those that went before them, to share advice and help each other on projects. Plus, interactions among members forms a great base for providing endorsements and recommendations that strengthen each other’s reputations.
Attracting Work
The reputation that Mallory has built on Skill Squirrel allows her to manage a portfolio of work for multiple sources of revenue. She expected starting out on her own to be difficult, and she wasn’t willing to share her income with a gig platform, which is why she chose Skill Squirrel, and she’s glad she did. Mallory says she now has the confidence and the connections to pursue her business her way.
