June 23, 20—

Ralston K. Barnes
Executive Director
JBNM
15778 La Jolla Drive
Newport Beach, CA 98310

Dear Bob,

I'm writing to ask for your thoughts, advice, and ideas on behalf of CareerLab. In the past two years, we have really hit some triples and home runs.  (And struck out a few times too.)  Here are seven examples of big wins:

1. On July 5, 20—, our client Garrison Saynes and our consultant Mary Ann Giancarli will appear on the CBS Early Show to discuss the impact of job-hunting on marriage. Last Wednesday, The Chicago Tribune interviewed me about job-hunting mistakes, and that story will appear online within six weeks.
2. In May we converted our online cover letter collection to a subscription format and immediately generated positive revenue from a formerly-free website.
3. In February we launched an Internet application called the "Executive Portfolio" which offers professionals, consultants, business owners, and executives at $100,000+ the tools to build a career marketing website or online portfolio using only basic word processing skills. My example is located at http://portfolio.intalent.com/williamfrank61
4. In November, we created a strategic partnership with "Interim Executives," a company that provides—you guessed it—interim leadership in high-growth or critical change environments.
5. In May we originated TOP-12, a monthly, invitation-only leadership roundtable for chief human resources executives from 12 Colorado corporations representing 150,000 employees.
6. In April (through our Lincolnshire partners) we created a strategic alliance with CareerNet Europe, giving us offices in major cities in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Argentina, and positioning us to operate globally.
7. Thanks to a 24-year history, we've built a substantial career consulting practice for battle-tested senior executives. (The second Wednesday every month, CareerLab and ExecuNet, in alliance with wsj.com, host a networking breakfast exclusively for $100K+ executives and professionals.)

These are wonderful wins . . . AND YET, they are not enough to generate our desired growth rate.

My definition of a consultant is "Someone who wakes up every morning unemployed." And that rule never fails me. So while we have been hugely successful in the past-275 brand-name corporate clients, and counting—we are still in the hunt for new assignments.

WE'RE AMAZNGLY GOOD AT:

• Career Development
• Executive Coaching
• Testing & Assessment using The Birkman Method ("A Career X-Ray, CT Scan, MRI, and Blood Test")
• Performance Improvement
• Senior Leadership Team Alignment
• Individual and Group Outplacement.

Specifically, we're targeting companies that value their people and want to honor, protect, and develop their "human capital." Small or large, size makes no difference. Neither does geographic location. There's almost no company we can't help.

What about Bill Frank? Now that I'm 57 years young, I focus primarily on the 40+ crowd: senior executives, business owner, top professionals, or management consultants with difficult, complex, or sophisticated career problems. Often their issue is, "been there, done that." These folks are highly paid, often financially independent. They want to maintain or improve their present compensation or net worth—or else they intend to work for personal satisfaction where money is not the primary driver.

Bob, your advice and assistance are enormously important to me. I plan to call you within the next 10 days to be sure you received this letter and to ask if you have any thoughts or ideas about people we should contact, or specific opportunities we should pursue.  I appreciate your taking the time to consider CareerLab's situation, and I look forward to talking to you soon.

Your friend,
 
William S. Frank
wsfrank@careerlab.com