9 Essential Steps to Make $25000 in 6 months

INSIDER'S GUIDE: 9 ESSENTIAL STEPS

STEP 1:THE DEFINITIONOF YOU

www.uab.edu/iem

Get very clear: you are

a business - a service

provider. You are not

an employee.

You're probably

exclaiming, "What?? Of

course I'm an employee,

they pay me every month."

Ah, and there's the point:

They pay you for services.

You are a business

providing a service to your

customers in exchange for

pay.

Start with definitions.The first three steps are about defining yourself asa company and identifying your customers.

Make a list of your current

customers. You will likely

have 10+ customers. Think

of and write down anyone

whose opinion of you, or

actions related to you, can

impact your salary.

SOURCE: IEM 601 COURSEMATERIAL AT UAB

A customer is those people

who impact your salary -

mostly directly. They can

increase it or make it go away -

or they have major influence

over both. This doesn't have to

only be your immediate boss.

If the CEO decides to downsize

your position, that's an impact,

right? So he counts as

someone to whom you have to

provide value to earn that

paycheck.

Dale Callahan is the Director of theInformation Engineering and ManagementMasters degree at the University of Alabamaat Birmingham. These tips are part of theIntroduction to IEM Courses he teaches atUAB.

ACTION STEP

STEP 2:THE DEFINITIONOF YOURCUSTOMERS


STEP 3: WHO CAN YOUSERVE?

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This might be side jobs

or things you can do

to make a few dollars

(or more than a few).

Think about your

strengths and your

hobbies.

Do you paint? Do you sing?

Do you like to knit? What is

something you'll do in

your free time that could

help someone else.

Identify these people.

Now ThinkBigger.The next steps walk you through outlining yourposition as a service to others, including thingsnot immediately involved at your day job.

List them or describe these

people. You may know them

by name - or you might know

something about them.

"people who need their

Christmas lights taken down"

For example.


Pick your top five customers

(those people who influence

your pay the most or those

who you think have the

greatest potential to impact

your pay) For current service,

make a list of how you THINK

you already them and for the

side job people--write how you

think you can serve them in the

future.

Use a simple bullet list and

work fast writing what is on the

top of your head. Do not

overthink this.

Fun Fact: Information Engineering andManagement is called "IEM". We enrollstudents every Fall and Spring. 65% of ourgraduates increase their salary by 50% ormore using these strategies.

ACTION STEP

STEP 4:PICK YOUR TOP 5


STEP 5:

LET'S DISCUSS

VALUE

www.uab.edu/iem

Share with yourcustomers your list ofhow you do - or can -serve them. Ask themif they agree.

Contact your list ofcustomers and ask themout for coffee, or meetthem over GoogleHangout.

Find dedicated time to askthem about what you aredoing and their feedbackon your tasks.

Start talking.

A lot.Sometimes what we think is valuable is only aguess. It's time to nail down exactly what yourcustomer thinks is priority number one.

You are NOT asking for araise! You want to hear theirthoughts on you and learn

about their struggles. You areasking for feedback so you

can become a betteremployee or provider.

SOURCE: IEM 601 COURSE

MATERIAL AT UAB

Listen carefully for not onlytheir answers - but what alsowhat they really need. Whenyou hear frustration or passionin their voice - listen to thattopic even if it is not on yourlist.

This is your chance to analyzewhat you are doing to makesure you are on track. Are yourtasks what they expect you tobe doing? Is there somethingthey would like better? Whatabout things not on your list?Are there things you need toadd? This exercise is anexploration of how you canimprove.

Fun Fact: Information Engineering andManagement is called "IEM". We enrollstudents every Fall and Spring. 65% of ourgraduates increase their salary by 50% ormore using these strategies.

TAKE NOTE


STEP 6: IDENTIFY WAYSTO ADD VALUE

www.uab.edu/iem

This does not mean a

lot of work for you -

but look for ways to

make the life of your

customers easier.

Simple examples I have

seen before:

a) Printing a report on

department actions

BEFORE they went to a

meeting. Made the boss

look highly in touch.

b) Doing the grunt work on

a big project he or she is

working on and handing

the results to them.

Find ways toadd valueThink like your customer. What would make their

life easier or better? How can you provide that for

them?

Think about your customer's

pain points. What is it that

they hate doing themselves?

Is it something you can do for

them? What about their

frustrations?

Think small and simple.

SOURCE: RESUMES AREWORTHLESS BOOK

c) Developing unity among

your team by having informal

chats with co-workers before

your weekly staff meeting so

you all work out any issues

before the boss does.

d) Developing a financial

impact statement showing the

amount of money your team

saves the company by doing

their job.

e) Volunteering for small things

to get them off the boss.

Being a sounding board. By

you talking about frustrations

to the boss - you give them a

chance to develop their own

clarity about the problems and

possible solutions. You just

have to ask questions.

ACTION STEP


STEP 7 : QUIT DOINGEVERYTHINGYOURSELF.

www.uab.edu/iem

Quit doing the thingsthat do not addvalue. Think Delete,Delegate, and Do.

Delete the things that youidentified from talking toyour customer is not a winfor them.

Delegate the things youare not particularly giftedat doing that still need tobe done well and fallunder your responsibility.

Do the things only you cando.

Get it alldone. The next two steps outline practical ways to makesure you stay on track towards you goal.

A Weekly Improvement Plan(WIP) means a dedicated time

to working on small,achievable goals. Commit to

doing them every week at a settime. Fridays from 10-11am,

for example.


What gets scheduled, getsdone. Adding more valuemeans more money in yourpocket.

As you talk and listen, you willstart to come up with manyideas to improve what you doto serve others. Some will besimple - others harder. Make alist as a WIP and take somesmall action weekly toimplement these new tools.

" IEM makes you start to see opportunitywhere you used to see brick walls."- Michael Mayhew, Senior Systems Engineer,BBVA Compass

ACTION STEP

STEP 8 :WEEKLYIMPROVEMENTPLAN


STEP 9:

COMMUNICATE

OFTEN

www.uab.edu/iem

Sometimes providingvalue isn't aboutchanging anythingexcept letting peopleknow what you'redoing.

What is that they say? It'snot bragging if it's true?That's true in marketing,and the fact of yoursituation is you aremarketing your ownservices.

If not one knows what youare doing, they can'tappreciate it.

The Last

StepsHere we are, step 9 that makes the system work.

Come up with a list of 3 waysyou can keep your customersinformed about the value you

add for them. By keeping theminformed, you will be on theirminds when it comes time for

promotion.

SOURCE: IEM 601 COURSE

MATERIAL AT UAB

Worse, if they are notreminded of your work, theymay start to think you don't doANYTHING. That's horrible,right? That puts you on thechopping block whensomeone needs to be let go.

The key to getting noticed is toSHOW how you have addedvalue.

Find small ways to do this.Could be a simple bullet listemail on the status of actionsfrom you or your team lastweek. Instead of the longreports managers get - asimple list is scannable andthey are informed. We are not your typical graduate degree.The way we see it, it's our job to train youand give you the tools you need to succeedprofessionally.

ACTION STEP

9 ESSENTIAL STEPS EBOOKby Dale Callahan, Ph.D

Learn More.

Go Further.If you follow the steps in this outline, you'll be ready for a

promotion as well as set up for making money on the side.

Adding value will produce real cash in your pocket. Our

clients that follow these steps increase their income by 50%

or more. We know for certain these methods work and that

they they can work for you.

Need help? Want more information? Check out our website

or drop us an email [email protected]

We will help you get started on your path to success.

M O R E I N F O R M A T I O N

UAB IEM | www.uab.edu/iem | 205.934.8480 | [email protected]

9 Essential Steps to Make $25000 in 6 months

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