Unconventional Life – Podcast, Blog, Live Events

Category: Money

Ep60: Millennials, This Is Why You’re Searching For a New Job

It’s no secret that Millennials are drifters when it comes to the workplace.

42% of Millennials change jobs every one to three years, while 60% perpetually remain open to new job opportunities. The dawn of a New Year is an especially active time for job switches, with over 50% thinking of making a career change.

If you’ve got job hopping on your mind right now, you’re in good company.

But the real question is, why are Millennials switching jobs so frequently?

Identifying why you’re not satisfied and what you’re truly looking for is essential in helping you align with a job you’ll love for the long-run.

One advisor sheds some light on the most common areas of work Millennials aren’t satisfied with.

Meet Tayo Rockson, a cross-cultural advisor to companies about employee retention and bottom line strategies. He’s also an internationally-recognized speaker who has presented at the United Nations, and the host of “As Told By Nomads,” ranked the #2 Business Podcast by Entrepreneur.

This week on Unconventional Life, Rockson shares wisdom about what makes Millennials feel unfulfilled in the workplace. If this is you, take comfort in knowing you’ll soon be equipped to find a job that provides what’s really important to you.

You Don’t Feel Valued

According to the BLS, only 29% of workers feel valued in their jobs. This is especially true for Millennials, who often feel like they’re replaceable.

Does your current job provide an environment where you feel safe to speak up? If you’re hesitating to speak your mind or are feeling like your voice doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, it might be why you’re looking for a new place to work.

Your job should be a place where your perspective is welcomed and valued. “In order to stay, Millennials need to feel included,” says Rockson.

You Want More Flexibility

Millennial workers say what’s most important to them is flexibility. In fact, 45% of Millennials would choose a job that paid less if it offered more flexibility.

Are things like travel, an open schedule, and more time to spend with loved ones important to you? If your current job requires a rigid schedule and a physical location, you might want to consider looking for a job that offers more flexibility.

Many new companies are taking cue from Millennials and creating jobs that accommodate a flexible lifestyle. Rigor, an Atlanta-based startup, won the 2014 Best Places to Work in Atlanta award with its “work from anywhere, anytime” policy.

You Don’t Feel Like You Fit In

Feeling like you fit in at work is key to enjoying your job. Seek to find an environment that includes a broad range of individuals from different backgrounds and you will feel more accepted and welcomed to express yourself.

“Is your employer hiring from different backgrounds?” says Rockson. “That, at the very baseline is a functioning team.”

A lack of diversity can create a hostile environment within the workplace, reducing collaboration and creating tension. 57% of Millennial workers feel their company should be doing more to increase diversity.

You Don’t Feel Like You’re Growing

The number one reason Millennials are likely to leave their current job is because of their boss.

It’s important you find a boss who supports you in your growth and evolution both professionally and as a human being. Find someone who cares about you and the overall quality of your life. Your boss should be less a supervisor and more a mentor if you are to feel supported long-term.

Better yet, become your own boss. 66% of Millennials say they want to start their own business—if you’re feeling boxed in by management, it may be time to take your own initiative. Online summits are a great resource to gain tools to jumpstart your entrepreneurial journey.

Enjoyed this post? Check out more of my tools to create a life by your own design.

This article originally appeared on Forbes.com.

January 5, 2017
Ep53: How This Founder Took His Videos Viral And Made $8M In Sales

“Gentlemen, I’m Chris,” says a charismatic founder while smoking a pipe, sitting on an ornate throne, and proudly displaying a beard torn straight out of a Vikings storybook.

Before you can blink, Chris drops an F-bomb.

This is the opening scene of the viral video ad that turned a simple beard care brand, Dollar Beard Club, into a membership program, generating over $8 million in sales in the first eight months.

Chris Stoikos, the brand’s founder, is the producer and lead actor behind the video’s uncanny success. After amassing hundreds of millions of views across a handful of videos, Stoikos has dialed down a proven formula to turn any video viral.

Stoikos shares this formula on the latest episode of Unconventional Life, “8 Million in 8 Months: The Proven Formula To Viral Videos.”

In 2016, video is the new standard for marketing, with over 93% of marketers using video in their campaigns. Video is exponentially more effective than plain text or images, shown to increase conversion by 80% and generate 1,200% more shares.

If you’re selling a product or service, the question is not whether to include video, but rather how to hit it out of the park.

Stoikos credits his success largely to the virality of his video campaigns. The videos are less a blatant advertisement than they are a comedic skit, seamlessly blending entertainment and education about the product while building a compelling case to join.

“People want to join your cause and be a part of it for a long time,” Stoikos says. “Brand loyalty is 80% of your revenue.”

With Dollar Beard Club, members are there for the long run. The brand has created a beard culture that awards highest status to the longest, most well-kept beards, motivating members to buy new grooming products each month for years on end.

The concept is genius, yet simple.

Stoikos has coined a methodology behind viral video production called “Prohven,” which uses buyer psychology to create content that triggers an unconscious emotional response in viewers, provoking them to take action.

The Prohven formula has been used by top-level entrepreneurs through Stoikos’ media company Unconscious Content, to generate massive revenue spikes as well as build lasting communities around their brands. Below, Stoikos shares the backbone of the Prohven methodology so you can create effective and compelling video content for your brand.

1. Hook them in within the first five seconds. Create a pattern interrupt that immediately jolts your viewer out of whatever they were just doing. “Show them something they’ve never seen before. Make them say ‘What did I just see? I need to see the rest of this,’” Stoikos says. Be creative and imaginative, and don’t be afraid to be over-the-top. Tactful profanity may work to your advantage, depending on your audience.

2. Villainize your competition. Drop a line or two about why you’re better than your competitors. What is it in your offer that they don’t have? Bonus points for acting it out—think Stoikosslapping a naked man shaving his face to place his brand in opposition to monthly razor clubs.

3. Open up their emotional safe. Everyone has an “emotional safe”: it contains their trust and willingness to buy from you. Show your viewers that they can trust you—take them behind the scenes of your business operations, showcasing the comradery at your company and the homestyle care that goes into packaging each product. Make them feel good about your company culture and they’ll want to be a part of it.

4. Declare why your product is the best of its kind. Use language that shatters the status quo and boldly positions your product at the top of the top. Stoikos describes his product (priced at just a dollar) as “the most legendary beard oil known to mankind.”

5. Educate and entertain simultaneously. Highlight the best features of your product in a creative and engaging way. Weave it into the broader narrative of the skit so it appears seamless and natural, rather than staged, forced, or “salesy.” Make your viewers laugh and they’ll associate your product with a positive experience, becoming more likely to make a purchase.

6. Sell them on a lifestyle. The allure behind Dollar Beard Club is the masculine lifestyle it associates with growing a beard. Bearded men are shown riding motorcycles and getting sexual attention from women, with longer beards being portrayed as more masculine. Pair your brand with a desirable lifestyle that amplifies in value over time and you’ve got an incentive to join and an even greater incentive to stay. Check out Stoikos’ instagram for great examples.

7. Create a compelling call to action. Avoid using salesy phrases like “buy now” and “we know you’ll love these products we’re selling.” Shift the focus from the product and the sale to the relationship they’ll gain when they choose your brand. “Be a man and join the dollar beard club” is the closing line of Stoikos’ famous video. Emphasize the community and lifestyle viewers will align with and saying yes will be effortless.

Enjoyed this post? Check out more of my tools to create a life by your own design.

This article originally appeared on Forbes.com

December 17, 2016
Ep54: How To Work From Anywhere In The World Without Quitting Your Job

Maybe you’ve ogled over newsfeed photos of your entrepreneurial friends working from their laptops overlooking the sea cliffs of Greece, the rice fields of Bali, or the mountains of Peru.

For many millennials, working remotely is the ultimate career aspiration. The problem is, it’s often just that—an aspiration. We dream of this lifestyle but think it is out of reach for us unless we were to quit our jobs.

In reality, location-independence is becoming increasingly accessible for the everyday worker. Over half of Americans arecurrently working part-time remotely, and that number is rising steadily. As business infrastructure yields to digital technology,more and more companies are willing to let employees work from outside the office.

One founder says you could just be a conversation away from making remote work a reality for you.

Meet Greg Caplan, the founder of Remote Year, a one-year program offering 75 millennials the experience of working in 12 global cities for a month each. Since its launch in 2015, Remote Year has received over 300,000 applications and $12 million in funding. Caplan says the majority of participants are actually completing the program within traditional jobs.

This week on Unconventional Life, Caplan shares how you can successfully pitch your employer on the remote working arrangement of your dreams.

Caplan’s taste for international travel developed at a young age, when, growing up, his parents opened up their home to foreigners from around the world. Caplan recalls living with children from Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and the Congo, usually for years at a time.

What stuck with Caplan was a sense of community that transcended geographic borders. With Remote Year, Caplan sought to recreate this experience for a modern generation disconnected from community.

“Community is not always readily available,” Caplan says. “Sometimes it’s something you have to go out and create on your own.”

On the first day of Remote Year’s launch, Caplan was flooded with over a thousand applications. “I shared it with a couple friends over Google Chat and it started to go nuts. Over the next couple months over fifty thousand people signed up. There wasn’t even much information but we really struck a chord—people desired this experience,” he says.

A common theme amongst applicants was a desire to create workability for remote living within their current careers. People wanted to know how they could enroll their employers in a remote working agreement that allowed for travel and an open schedule.

In response, Caplan developed a strategy that began producing consistent results. Before long, Remote Year’s body consisted of more individuals in standard jobs than not.

“Remote work can be done—all that needs to happen is the way bosses and leaders think about remote work,” says Caplan.

Do you desire a remote lifestyle within your current career? Below, Caplan shares his proven strategy to pitch a remote work arrangement your employer can’t refuse.

1. Be professional. Create a formal proposal for your case. You’ll want to include a detailed plan for communication, possible issues and setbacks, and how you’ll work to mitigate them. “If you’re really structured and formal about all of the different points that you’re addressing and you present it in a professional way you’re much more likely to get by your boss or business leader,” Caplan says.

2. Identify the added value. Studies show remote workers are more productive, more collaborative, and take less sick days than their office counterparts. In addition, travel has been shown to improve creativity and innovation. With research in your favor, you can create an effective case for why you’ll become more valuable to your organization as a remote employee.

3. Meet the goals and objectives of your organization.Think holistically about how your proposal will serve your organization at all levels and across all departments. Understand what your organization’s primary objectives are and orient your case in the highest service to those needs. The more consideration you put into the entire structure of your organization, the easier it will be for your boss, and their supervisors, to say yes.

Enjoyed this post? Check out more of my tools to create a life by your own design.

This article originally appeared on Forbes.com

December 17, 2016