Endless Vacation Rentals® by Wyndham Worldwide (EVR), one of the world's largest global marketers of vacation rental properties, is part of the NAHB Member Advantage discount program.  Endless Vacation Rentals has access, for specified periods, to approximately 60,000 vacation properties around the world. Endless Vacation Rentals® offers a vast selection of vacation rentals ranging from studios and one bedroom accommodations to multiple bedroom units in destinations throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, and beyond. We also offer thousands of villas, apartments, cottages and homes in Italy, France, and the UK. These unique accommodations offer more space, flexibility, privacy, and "comforts-of-home" conveniences making a vacation stay more enjoyable.

NAHB members can now get 10% off the “best available rate” at most EVR vacation rental properties. Using the program is simple, just go to www.evrentals.com/nahb or call toll free 1-877-670-7088 and give the agent the NAHB discount ID number 20090. The website also enables you to review key resort amenities and provides you with great descriptions, pictures and directions.

So whether you are looking for an all-inclusive resort in Mexico, a beachfront condo in Florida, or somewhere to stay at along the way, Endless Vacation Rentals has the right resort for you at the right price!

*Destinations and travel times are subject to availability and confirmed on a first come, first served basis. Offer includes only accommodations and specifically excludes travel cost and other expenses that may be incurred. Promotional discounts and offers mat not apply to all properties. Other restrictions may apply. Offer void where prohibited by law. Additional taxes and conditions apply.

CST: 2081369-50. Fla. Seller of Travel Reg. No. ST-36515. Nevada Seller of Travel Registration No. 2006-0006. Washington Seller of Travel Reg. No. 602560941. For Web Site Terms and Conditions and Additional Disclosures go to www.EVRentals.com.

This inventory is made available by Resort Rental, LLC (operating as Holiday Rentals, LLC in MD and TX) an Indiana-licensed limited liability company, whose principal broker is John Lawrence Hertweck. Endless Vacation Rentals and related marks are registered trademarks in the United States and internationally. All Rights Reserved

Resort Rental, LLC, 7 Sylvan Way Parsippany, NJ 07054 [return to top]

After reviewing countless resumes during my career as an executive with several environmental firms and executive search firms, I am still continually amazed at how most job seekers fail to create a resume that will actually help them get a job.

If you really want a job in this economy, if you really want to make your resume stand out, you have to focus your resume on what matters — and that’s accomplishments, not a road map of where you’ve been.

Why is this so important? That’s simple. Potential employers reviewing resumes typically spend 10-to-15 seconds looking at a resume.  That’s all the time and attention you have to stand out from the literally thousands of job seekers competing for the same job.

The best way to get their attention is to put an “Accomplishments” section at the top of your resume and emphasize things that you have done that have:

• Saved the Company Money
• Made the Company Money
• Solved Problems for the Company

Those are the values that company owners and executives value in today’s business environment. Those are the types of accomplishments that will get you noticed — and move your resume to the top of the stack.

There are hundreds and hundreds of candidates who have more than five years of residential or commercial experience building a subdevelopment or schools or strip centers. But only a few have listed at the top of their resume such accomplishments as:

• “I saved the company $500,000 in costs by effectively managing subcontractors.”
• “I made the company more than $300,000 by completing the project 40 days early.”
• “I found a solution to a foundation problem which saved the company two weeks of construction time.”

Facts like these are more important than the road map of your career.

If your resume doesn’t highlight your accomplishments, redo it. Spend some time focusing on what is really important in your job search — so you can create a grab-them-by-the-throat-in-five-seconds resume.

How to Structure Your Resume

Your resume should be a one-to-two page synopsis of your expertise.

• “Key Accomplishments” needs to be in the top third of page one.
  Your accomplishment should be listed in three to six bullet points with each point one or two lines long. Remember, your bullet points should be hard-hitting facts of how you saved the company money, made them money or how you solved a problem.  
  Be prepared to discuss these points in detail when you get a call from an employer because they will want to know more.
  
  
• “Project Examples” should be listed next.
  This is a list of several projects that you were involved with, their size, when you worked on them and what you did.
  
  
• “Relevant Experience”
  List your experience in chronological order with the most recent experience at the top. Here you can include a brief description of what you did at each job. If you have an extensive work history, you may need to shorten the info for each job to keep your resume within two pages.
  
  
• “Education”
This is where you will want to list your degrees, certifications, licenses, etc.  You may or may not want to date items in this section.
• Don’t list references in this resume.
  Remember what you want to accomplish with this resume is a phone call so you can expound upon your attributes and why they should hire you.  Once they call you and talk to you, you can ask them if they want a more detailed version of your resume and references.

Your resume is only the first step in your job search process, but if you don’t produce a great resume, you may never get to step two. [return to top]

Wouldn’t it be great if someone else could do it for you? Outsourcing these tasks offers a number of benefits. Most important is the time you save by not having to perform this work yourself — time you can focus on your highest priority, your bottom line.

The attraction of outsourcing payroll to Paychex boils down to efficiently keeping up with all the details of running a business. “As a business person, you just want to say, do you realize which hat I’m wearing today? Give me a break!

The more little things that Paychex can pick up and take care of makes it easier. Anyone who tries to do it themselves is nuts,” says Dianne Bloch, a Paychex client. “You’ve got much better things to be doing with your time.”

Paychex can also save you time with additional services that make managing your employees and administering their benefits easier:

• Paychex Human Resource Services help administer everyday HR matters including retirement plans, workers’ compensation, and section 125 plans.
• Paychex time and labor systems can keep track of hours worked as well as improve productivity and data accuracy.
• Paychex Online extends the convenience of the Internet to the handling of payroll information in a secure, easy-to-use environment.

To learn how Paychex can help you run your business more efficiently, call 1-800-729-2439 (mention code #5685). NAHB members receive 15% off basic payroll processing and HR services setup fees. [return to top]

Convenience

Avoid the hassle of going to the Post Office. Having a meter means postage is available 24/7.

Save Money on Postage

Meters and scales tell you exactly how much postage you need for any type of mailing. Small businesses that use a postage meter can save up to 20% a year in postage. Never waste money by overstamping.

Be More Productive

Spend time doing more important things for your business like preparing invoices and finishing payroll instead of driving to the Post Office for stamps. You'll be saving on gas too!

Postage Tailored to Your Needs

With several postage meter and scale options, you have the solution that's right for your business based on the amount of mail you send.

Flexible, Trackable

Several employees or departments can use the same meter but you can track the postage expense by person or department

Be Prepared for Postal Rate Change

We'll notify you of rate changes and new postal regulations. Your meter can download the new rates in minutes.

Call toll-free 1-800-376-7047 and refer order number 999991198 [return to top]

Even in this economy Visa and MasterCard are enacting March processing rate increases! Don't let your processing provider take advantage of you by marking up your rates.

As they've done before, Member Advantage participating company Solveras lets members avoid the increases by helping you switch at 2008 rates - guaranteed for a year - if you respond by March 30.

The approval signals a new era for the nation’s builders, remodelers and developers and also provides an extra measure of reassurance for home buyers. The National Green Building Standard is now the first and only green building rating system approved by ANSI, making it the benchmark for green homes.

Order your copies of the Standard in bulk today to distribute to your members or offer them at your meetings, conferences and green building seminars. The more you order the more you save:

Retail: $35.95
Member $31.95

• 25-49 copies: 20% off retail
• 50-99 copies: 30% off retail
• 100-249 copies: 40% off retail
• 250-499 copies: 50% off retail
• 500+ copies: 60% off retail

Click here to order the National Green Building Standard in bulk.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact Patricia Potts at ppotts@nahb.com or 202-266-8224. [return to top]

The program was a great success as each Executive Officer invited their members to participate by asking them to join them during special shopping hours at the bookstore to assist them with their publication needs. There were giveaways and each member who stopped by the store received a special discount off their entire order.

Each association who participated was entered into a drawing to win a BuilderBooks Association Library valued at $1000. Congratulations to Helena BIA in Montana!!! The winning doesn’t stop there. Randall Hess from the Pike County BA (Rich Brown, EO) who came to the bookstore only because his EO invited him ended up winning the $500 Lowes gift card during the BuilderBooks Always Bet on Builders Daily Giveaway drawing on Tuesday, January 20.

BuilderBooks would like to thank the following state and local associations for participating in the Ambassador Program:

Later this year watch for details on how you can become an Ambassador at the 2010 International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 19-22, 2010.

If you have questions about the BuilderBooks Ambassador Program, please contact Jackie Barnes at jbarnes@nahb.com or 202-266-8588 [return to top]

The BuilderBooks Fulfillment Center recently moved to a new location in University Park, Illinois! We now have extended customer service hours from 7:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. CST. When placing your orders, please take the time to verify and update your contact information, including shipping address, email and telephone numbers.

Please send questions through the Contact Us page if you would like us to verify your order status. Thank you for your patience as we make adjustments to better serve you. [return to top]

• Southwestern Indiana Builders Association, Evansville, IN
• St. Tammany HBA, Lacombe, La.
• Wilmington-Cape Fear Builders Association, Wilmington, N.C.

Make sure you're signed up for this easy-to-maintain revenue stream.

Every time you send us a customer from your site, you earn up to 5% of each sale.

Sign up to be a BuilderBooks.com Affiliate Member and start making money right away. It's free to join and an easy revenue generator.

For more information, click on the four-leaf clovers. [return to top]

Featured Speakers:

• Jerry Howard, NAHB's President and CEO
• Rob Dietz, NAHB's Director of Tax Issues
• Gaye Orr, MIRM, CMP, of Coldwell Banker Advantage News Homes in Raleigh, N.C.
• Residential Development Strategist Dan Levitan, MIRM, CMP, of Levitan and Associates in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

NAHB President and CEO Jerry Howard will provide an overview of the recently enacted federal stimulus package and its housing-related provisions. Rob Dietz, NAHB’s director of tax issues, will explain the $8,000 tax credit in detail, including eligibility requirements, how to claim the tax credit and how the new tax credit differs from the credit offered in 2008.

Joining Howard and Dietz on the call will be marketing experts Gaye Orr, MIRM, CMP, and Dan Levitan, MIRM, CMP.

Orr is President of the Institute of Residential Marketing and a past chair of NAHB’s National Sales and Marketing Council (NSMC). She is Vice President of Coldwell Banker Advantage New Homes in Raleigh, N.C.

“The economic downturn is forcing all of us in the housing industry to work harder and smarter,” Orr said. “The winners will be those who learn to do more with less. That’s why everybody is trying to figure out how the stimulus package can be used to sell homes. And that’s what this teleconference is all about.”

Levitan is a residential development strategist and founder of Levitan and Associates in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He is a past president of Institute of Residential Marketing and was inducted as the first Fellow of the Institute.

“We’re pushing the tax credit very hard,” Levitan said. “So much can be done with electronic and web-based communication.”

Event Date: Monday, March 16

Event Time: 2:00 p.m. EST

Enter Conference ID: 428766

Please Note: The Conference ID number is used for registration. You will receive a unique pin number for the audio conference. Don't forget to write down the pin you're assigned since you will need it to join the call.

For further information, please contact Blake Smith or Paul Lopez at 800-368-5242, ext. 8254.

Click to register for the NAHB conference call [return to top]