Author: Lena Wang

Vemo Turned Me Down but I’m Not Disappointed

A little update about my current employment situation.

Vemo declined to interview me and they also turned down the onboarding process to become a Praxis business partner.

They have a variety of reasons for why they declined and it simply wasn’t the right time for them. I think the people running Vemo are pretty awesome and approachable, and I can see they’re a supportive company based on the feedback I received about my value proposition.

Here’s what Shanaz of Vemo had to say.

  • The spirit of this exercise is fabulous! It shows that you’re engaged, that you care, and that you’re interested in the work that we do.
  • Extra points for using our colors in your one-page pitch as well
  • The feedback on marketing interesting, but it’s assuming that we are a direct-to-consumer business. We’re a B2B business and that’s why we don’t have a Facebook page or speak directly to college students. Questions you can ask: “Who is the target audience that this company will sell to? Does it look like it’s a consumer-facing business or a business that sells to other businesses?”
  • Awesome job connecting the mission of our business (making college more affordable) to why you want to join us
  • VISME is looking for content writers/marketers as well as interns. Maybe consider applying to them! https://www.visme.co/jobs/

According to my Praxis advisor, who sent Vemo my value proposition, Shanaz was impressed by my professionalism, which shows why that’s so important along with the power of networking.

She even took time out of her day to give me feedback, which helped me learn why they don’t have a Facebook page.

Not a lot of companies out there give feedback to prospective hires, much less suggest another company who’s hiring. High five Vemo, keep this up!

Vemo Education Value Proposition

Last week’s value proposition was another infographic and this time it was for Vemo Education.

If you’re new to my blog, a value proposition is a work project that provides a solution to a perceived hurdle that a business is experiencing. Value props demonstrate the value I would create if I were to be hired. Think of it as an elevator pitch used in place of a static, boring resume.

The cool thing about Vemo is how they’re revolutionizing the future of tuition payments. They’re making it possible to graduate college with no debt and no loans! I can assure you it’s not a scam either. Take a look at their website, they’ll contact your university to create an income share agreement (ISA).

ISAs is how Vemo makes college affordable. Basically, you don’t pay until post-graduation and a fixed percentage of your income goes towards payments, no interest either. And if your income goes below a certain amount then you don’t pay either.

Take a look at how they work here.

Made with Visme Infographic Maker

Give Thanks to God

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Be joyful always, pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus. 

Last week, I posted about being thankful to God and appreciating what we have. For this Scripture Sunday, I felt it appropriate to do another post giving thanks to God since my first public speaking engagement was a success.

In this passage from Thessalonians, it says to “pray at all times.” Does this mean we should literally pray every single minute? Of course not, but what it does say is that prayer should be frequent and persistent.

God wants us to remind us of His promises to humanity and in exchange, we give thanks in the form of prayers.

What I Use for Infographics and Facebook Ad Mockups

Need to show your boss a sample Facebook ad and an infographic? Use AdParlor and Visme. These are great sites that will help you create beautiful visuals without any Photoshop or other complicated editing programs.

I still use AdParlor and Visme even though I know how to create visuals in Photoshop. It’s faster and gets the job done.

Visme is a great option especially if you’re working on a presentation to “wow” a client. I’ve made infographics for my value propositions which were sent to prospective employers.

Likewise, I use AdParlor to create sample Facebook ads for companies I want to work for. It’s a good option for a value proposition because it shows you’re taking the initiative by doing the work before getting hired.

Best of all, AdParlor and Visme are free!

Income Share Agreements, a Revolutionary Way to Afford College

Recently I just heard about this incredible way to make college affordable without a loan. It’s called income share agreement (ISA) and basically, you don’t pay tuition until you graduate and get hired.

This company called Vemo Education partners with universities, colleges, and other education providers to create programs with ISAs.

The way it works is the student agrees to pay a certain percentage of their income, and once they complete a specialized program, students pay a certain percentage based on their post-graduation income.

On Vemo’s end of the agreement, they work with the school to create a program that will incentivize student retention and create classes that actually teach skills.

Vemo has a great mission and it resonates with me on a personal level because I was a college student who couldn’t afford tuition. So this week I’ll be targeting them for my value proposition and hopefully they contact me back.

How to Get Over Your Fear of Rejection

A while ago I rediscovered this guy called Jia Jiang and his rejection therapy blog. I had bookmarked his blog a few years ago and I suddenly remembered him since I was looking for Ted Talks to help plan my recent speaking gig. I highly recommend watching his talk on his journey to becoming rejection-proof.

Continue reading How to Get Over Your Fear of Rejection

TMA Direct Value Proposition

I targeted TMA Direct for last week’s value proposition. TMA Direct specializes in organizing a business’ data, database management systems, and marketing. Some of their clients are well-known conservatives and political organizations.

I decided to create a value proposition for TMA Direct because I have a common background. I’ve taken a database management systems class so I have a taste of what it’s like. I’m also involved with grassroots libertarians and I have many connections within libertarian organizations.

For this value proposition, I created a tutorial about the inbound leads sales process. This tutorial is for employees who already talked to an interested customer who is currently exploring their options.

HubSpot has a list of questions to ask and I’ve taken their certification course on inbound sales, which has helped me create this tutorial.

The link to the slides can be found here.

Scripture Sunday: Give Thanks, Be Humble

Wealth and honor come from you … We give you thanks, and praise your glorious name … Everything comes from you” (1 Chronicles 29:12-14, NIV).

In the spirit of my recent public speaking success, I’m reminded to always give thanks to God for making it happen.

Wealth, fame, respect from society, can be addicting because humans never feel they have enough. In economics, we call this phenomenon, scarcity, which can lead to greed.

Greed is inherent in every human but out of moral obligation, we learn to curb most of our animalistic impulses. In order to combat against greed, we praise God for the material and spiritual things He has given to us.

Make room in your heart to be spiritually satisfied because materialism is only temporary and ceases to exist when you run out of money.