September is officially registered as International Update Your Resume Month (UYRM)!
This means resume writers and other career professionals can piggyback on the month-long holiday as a way to:
- Build awareness, acceptance, and visibility for your specialized services.
- Drive new business to your company and services.
- Gain publicity through local and national media.
So how can you do this?
There are many ways and some great scripts and resources. Here are my favorite ideas for leveraging UYRM:
Create an Event Tied to UYRM
This could be a free teleclass, webinar, or workshop. It could take place virtually and handled by yourself or it might be local where you go to a larger entity to use their name, visibility, and awareness in the community. That might be a community center, college, school, church, or business. Be sure to spread the word with free announcements in small newspapers, social media, and press announcements. Of course plan to have a ping back to your company and services at the end! You might even offer a free drawing to get names on your list!
Leverage UYRM in Articles and Blog Posts
Holidays make a fantastic launching pad for providing your expert advice. There are so many articles and blog posts you can write around this topic, using UYRM as your inspiration.
Get Visible With a Social Media Tip Series Tied to UYRM
Not everyone needs to do blog posts and articles to create awareness or funnel new traffic to their websites. Consider doing a “30 days of” tip series with Twitter-sized advice. It’s very easy to go top-down through a resume and find gleaming nuggets to share. Once you’ve offered valuable information, don’t forget every 4-5th tip to post about your free consultation. “Need help with your resume?…”, “Take advantage of our free resume critique…”.
Offer a September-Only Special for UYRM
First off, you know I always have to stress the importance of having the right pricing before you offer any kind of incentive. Driving new or repeat business to your company isn’t effective if you do so at a rate that causes you more stress. So, make sure prices are optimized at higher retail rates before attempting discounts or specials! But, a 10% off on resume updates during September for UYRM can be a nice plus to your existing list of existing clients and prospects.
Add UYRM to Your Signature Line
While it’s temporary, you could simply add a message about UYRM to your signature line with an “Ask Me” message or a link to information, a special offer, tips/blog posts, or an event. Consider right clicking on the UYRM image below and adding it to your signature or other visible marketing.
Pitch Your Expertise to the Media for UYRM
Employment is always a popular topic with the media, so UYRM can be an easy connection to generate interest for an article or interview. If you aren’t media-savvy, you might consider looking to see if you have a client with PR experience that you could trade services with. They can act as your agent. I did this once several years ago and ended up with a TV interview as a result. While you are tempted to go big with large news outlets, don’t neglect smaller entities as well. A small local paper may have less of a lead time than an online global entity. Don’t be afraid to expand your outreach!
You can also take advantage of pre-scripted letters and news releases in the CDI members section. You will find:
2 sample press releases
Media pitch letter
Media pitch letter for TV
Professor pitch letter
Sample letter to clients
Resume update worksheet you can share with clients and prospects
Important note: The sample letters say 7th year of UYRM. These have not been updated. The event has been around since approximately 2001.
Interview Guest Experts for UYRM
You don’t have to be a professional resume writer to benefit from UYRM! If you have a podcast or like to go live on a social channel such as LinkedIn or YouTube, consider having a resume writer or resume writers on to provide advice and strategy to your audience. You can find some of the industry’s best resume writers through CDI’s global membership here.
Get them here. (requires login)
Provide a Free UYRM Worksheet to Clients & Prospects
In the topic above you can download the variety of UYRM tools, one of which is a tracking sheet to help clients record their resume update information as it happens. You might consider making this or something similar available to clients even outside of UYRM so that it is easier for them to return to you in the future for updates! You can also tie this freebie in to an article or blog post.
Make the Most of UYRM!
Whatever you do, UYRM provides unique opportunities month-long to increase your visibility and grow your business. Take advantage of the strategies that suit you and go!
Just want to spread the word?
If you don’t offer resume writing or related services, you can simply share socially about the holiday. The public page can be found at https://careerdirectors.com/find-a-career-professional/update-your-resume-month/.
