Written for the leaders, owners and professionals of the 11 million businesses with between $50,000 and $50 million in revenue.

Pumpkin spice products are now a billion-dollar market, and somebody needs to taste-test all that stuff.

Last month, FinanceBuzz offered $1,000 for a “pumpkin spice pundit”, whose task was to “rate all of the seasonal fall foods at Trader Joe’s … on several criteria, like how difficult it was to make, how tasty it is, and more.” The cost of groceries would be covered with an additional gift card.

Still, the gig is probably difficult considering the sheer number of Trader Joe’s pumpkin-spice offerings — from cookies, coffee, bagels, pretzels, cereal, yogurt, and samosas to hand cream and even dog treats. (Would the pundit have to rate everything on tastiness?)

Unfortunately, applications are now closed. Your next side hustle will need to be more LinkedIn, less “PumpkIn.”

LinkedIn lingo: Post without sounding like a total weirdo

Meeting flow: Cluster them together to boost productivity

Hiring Help Desk: Do recruiters know if a cover letter is AI-written?

(Source: Shutterstock)

Faux humility, cringeworthy anecdotes, unrealistic productivity hacks — all are part and parcel of scrolling through LinkedIn. To its haters (500,000 of whom subscribe to a subreddit called LinkedInLunatics for mesmerizingly “insufferable” content), LinkedIn is filled with insidious corporate mythology and charlatans masquerading as thought leaders.

Beyond those downsides, the site’s benefits are clear: plentiful job and networking opportunities without attending an awkward, real-life industry mixer. Here’s how to do away with the cornball content and embrace a fuller, more complex version of yourself when posting.

Cut the Cliche 

You probably know how an inspirational story on LinkedIn typically goes: the quotidian beginning, the “life-changing” revelation, the supposedly profound business takeaway.

Avoid that format. Try to write the way you would to a trusted colleague or friend. Use your voice in a way that’s compelling and unique.

Consider Your Audience

Are you trying to boost your profile on a certain topic and snag a following? Promote a new product, campaign, or partnership? Or are you simply trying to reconnect with people from your existing network for new opportunities?

LinkedIn, like Facebook, allows you to write for the general public or just your connections. Figure out your audience and proceed accordingly.

Tell a Cohesive Narrative

If you haven’t worked on your profile in a while, it may be time to refresh the story it tells. Encompass your proudest and most compelling accomplishments with a singular voice throughout.

Use Humor

This one can be tricky. We’ve all had that one co-worker who stepped over the line of offensiveness or made us want to scream with their bad puns. But humor, deployed successfully, can delight and persuade others. Try sharing funny insights that ring true to you. 

Be Patient

You won’t build a LinkedIn following or overhaul your career overnight. It takes time for your posts to build engagement and show up in the feeds of people you want in your life. In the meantime, try to enjoy the show.

Whether you’re running a small business or a vast enterprise, you need a full-featured CRM software. Hubspot offers the core omnichanel tools you need to generate leads and move them through your sales funnel, closing deals and earning repeat business. 

With Hubspot’s free plan, you can even get started without any overhead. As your business grows, the platform scales along with you, adding custom branding, expanding contact lists, and a wide range of templates. 

Empower your sales, marketing, and customer service teams like never before. Give Hubspot CRM a spin with a free trial and see how it’s right for your business.

Dr. Steven Rogelberg is a chancellor’s professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, a former president of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and the author of Glad We Met: The Art and Science of 1:1 Meetings.

Scheduling effective meetings starts with the concept of flow.

Flow, defined nearly five decades ago, describes a state in which individuals are fully immersed in (while enjoying) an activity. Meetings, when strategically scheduled, can amplify flow by minimizing disruptions.

The key is to cluster meetings together in the morning, around lunchtime, or in the afternoon, which reduces interruptions and the need for frequent task switching. Recent experiments show that spacing meetings throughout the day often means insufficient time between them to achieve flow, whereas clustering meetings leads participants to anticipate heightened productivity and accomplishment. (Other research found that software developers prefer to complete all daily meetings before tackling other tasks, thus using the afternoon for uninterrupted flow.)

There are, however, nuances to consider with a clustering approach:

• Integrating short, five- to 10-minute micro-breaks between clustered meetings allows for recovery, stretching, and mental preparation for subsequent engagements. Adjusting meeting durations can facilitate that, ensuring punctual starts and ends.
• If dedicated flow time has been carved out before or after clustered meetings, it’s essential to protect and honor it by blocking it off on the calendar.
• Recognizing individual preferences is also paramount. Some individuals prefer spacing out meetings to prevent fatigue and allow for reflection. Clustering tends to boost productivity, but it’s crucial to acknowledge and accommodate diverse scheduling needs.

Ultimately, effective scheduling empowers individuals to unlock their potential and cultivates a culture of efficiency and team collaboration.

(Source: Shutterstock)

In this new b. feature, a long-tenured (yet anonymous) recruiter for a major company will answer burning questions about interviews, resumes, and everything else related to getting hired in today’s competitive and changing job market. Submit your questions to b.newsletter@business.com.

Q: Can you tell if a cover letter is written by AI — and does it even matter anymore?

A: I wish cover letters would go the way of the dodo. Maybe one day they will. Until then, I think AI can be an incredibly helpful tool to jump-start the writing process. What better use is there for AI than to make cumbersome, annoying tasks — like resume tweaking or cover letter writing — faster and easier?

Here’s the caveat: AI should only be used as a jumping-off point. 

Which is to say: Yes, we can tell when something is written with ChatGPT, Google Gemini, or any other generative tool. And, yes, it still matters. 

Most AI cover letters I read don’t have any personality (at least not yet!). They’re robotic, devoid of personal anecdotes or reflections, and they read overly generic or are just plain wrong: poor grammar, wrong company, incorrect titles. That stuff can sway a hiring team to consider other candidates who have demonstrated more thoughtfulness, creativity, and attention to detail — requirements for almost every job.

There’s a common phrase in baseball: You can’t win the division in April, but you can lose it. The same concept goes for a cover letter. It’s never going to be a winning lottery ticket, but it could be an entry ticket.

If you rely too heavily on chatbots without some proofreading, editing, or infusion of personality, what helped ease your writing process may complicate your job-hunting process.

Written by Dan Ketchum, Steven Blum. Comic by John McNamee.