To find your next job, you goal is to meet the right people and convince them to hire you. It’s just that simple.

Best part: There are more ways to meet hiring authorities today than ever before.

For example, want ads used to be found only in newspapers. Now they’re now online, too. And you can network your way into an employer using free Web sites like Linkedin.com, a route to employment that was inconceivable 15 years ago.

But not every job-search idea is new. Sometimes old methods work just as well. To illustrate, here are two ways to find a job: one is at least 71 years old, and the other, about 71 months …

1) Something Old: Create a Mastermind Group
The idea of a “mastermind” is found in the book, “Think and Grow Rich,” written by Napoleon Hill in 1937. It’s a brainstorming and problem-solving technique used by Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie and others, to create some of history’s greatest inventions and biggest fortunes.

And it can help you find a new job, too.

Here’s how it works. A mastermind is a group of likeminded people who meet, once or twice a month for an hour or two, to discuss and solve each other’s problems. You’ve heard the phrase, “Two heads are better than one.” Well, a mastermind group involves three, four or five heads. Each person has a few minutes to state their problem. In your case, yours is your job search. Then, the group offers suggestions in a free-for-all discussion. Your brainpower gets multiplied many times this way — the insights, ideas and answers you’ll receive may astonish you.

Note: This does not mean you should join other unemployed folks in a local job club. Job clubs have their place, but they can sometimes turn into sob sessions. Instead, your mastermind should be made up of people who have jobs they enjoy. This way, their positive attitudes about work will rub off and encourage you.

Simply put, a mastermind, organized and led by you, will help solve your job-search problems. To learn more, Google these two words: Mastermind Hill.

2) Something New: Create a Blog
The word “blog” is short for “weblog,” defined as a frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links. While blogs typically function as a kind of diary, they can also get you hired.

In fact, blogs are being called “the new resumes” by some employment experts. So it behooves you to learn more about this method of getting your name before hiring managers.

To get the facts, I spoke to Chris Russell, an author, blogging expert, and (naturally) creator of the blog, Secretsofthejobhunt.com.

“Blogs are a way to get found by potential employers online. Think of a blog as an extended version of your resume,” says Russell, who points out that anyone can create a blog using free Web-based tools, such as Blogger.com or Wordpress.com.

Blogging is especially useful if you’re looking for a job in IT or any field in which you must prove your communication skills.

What should go in your blog? “You can approach this a couple of ways. You could use it as an application for one job at one company — write relevant things about the employer and then send a link to the hiring manager. Or, you can blog in a more general way, to position yourself as an expert in your field,” says Russell.

When blogging, aim to differentiate yourself from others. Let your personality and expertise shine through. But be smart. Don’t write negatively about past employers or include stories of how you got tear-gassed at last weekend’s keg party. “A blog posting is forever because there are sites that archive them,” says Russell.

Think of your blog as a new puppy, requiring plenty of care, nurturing — and patience. “Post entries to your blog on a regular basis and understand that it takes time to build an audience,” advises Russell.

The best ways to promote your blog — and get found by employers — include participating in and linking to other blogs. Also, it pays to give out your blog address as you would a business card. Put it on your resume, and email it to friends, colleagues and others.

To learn more, and read blogging success stories that should motivate you, visit Secretsofthejobhunt.com and Blogforjobs.com. Now, go out and make your own luck!

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Everybody loves a story with a happy ending, right?

Well, here’s one about an Ontario man who got the job he wanted in exactly 31 days, with lessons that can help you do the same.

Rod Sider, from Waterloo, Ontario, sent me an email describing the success he had after reading my ebook, “Guerrilla Resumes.” We later spoke by phone and I asked Rod what the most important change was that he made in his job search. His answer: “Focus. I narrowed my search to one type of job, sales, in two industries: home remodeling and new cars.”

Your Lesson: Start your job search by thinking clearly of what you want. Rod aimed at one specific position — sales — and two industries. As a result, he was able to produce results quickly, like sunlight focused through a magnifying glass.

In the words of Robert Collier: “The time you put in aimlessly dreaming and wishing would accomplish marvels if it were concentrated on one definite subject.”

Next, I asked Rod about his resume.

“Among the changes I made to my resume was to put in comments from past clients,” said Rod. Including testimonials like this helped prove the claims he made in his resume, because praise about you is more believable when it comes from somebody else.

Your Lesson: Watch any TV infomercial and you’ll find that at least 30-50% of the program is made up of testimonials from happy customers. That’s no accident. Testimonials are incredibly powerful. In your resume, including two or three testimonials — brief quotes from clients or managers — can be just as powerful.

Now. How many employers did Rod contact, and how did he find them? “I faxed, emailed and mailed my resume to 19 companies that I wanted to work for. I found 16 of them just by driving around near my home and looking. I located more than 50 potential employers this way. Then, I researched them on Google, narrowing the list and finding contact information for executives I wanted to meet. The interesting part was, only one of the 19 companies I contacted was hiring, but I got a total of 5 job interviews.”

Your Lesson: When most folks look for work, they look for a job. Why not look for an employer instead? That’s what Rod did. He created his own job market by targeting companies within 20 minutes of his home. Rod didn’t wait for his ideal employers to advertise an opening — he simply went after them. You can, too.

What happened after he sent out his resumes and cover letters?

“For the first few days, there were no calls. I got a bit discouraged. But, I called all 19 employers to see if they got my resume and cover letter.

Then things started to snowball. I received a total of 12 responses, resulting in four in-person interviews and one phone interview. On day 30, I was called back for a second interview and offered a position 5 minutes from home. On day 31, I accepted the job, selling new cars.”

Your Lesson: This one has two parts.

First, you must follow up. Rod called each of his 19 target employers to make sure they got his resume. If a company is worth identifying, researching, and applying to, it’s worth a phone call to make sure your materials were read.

Second, if you persist, you will succeed. If you don’t, you won’t. While Rod felt dejected after not hearing back from employers, he never quit. Instead, he got busy calling employers to follow up. One good thing led to another, until he had the job he wanted within 31 days. If you never give up, you’ll never fail. It’s just that simple.

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You read a lot these days about how depressed the average person is about the labor market, or that the average person can take up to 17 weeks to find a new job.

But where is it written that YOU have to be average? When did Congress pass that law?

Good news: You don’t have to be average. Thankfully, this is one area that the politicians haven’t decided to “help” us with (yet).

Instead, you can get radically better results in your job search — starting today — by doing two simple things differently.

Here’s how …

1) Think Differently
Let’s face it: Most of the news you read, hear or see on TV is bad.

And most of it has little to do with your life, if you think about it. For example, what can you do with the “news” that a car bomb has exploded in Iraq or that a house was gutted by fire on the other side of town? Nothing. Not one thing.

You could let all that bad news get you down, like most people do. Or you could tune it out. You could think differently.

Here’s why.

No matter what the news — good or bad — every company wants to increase revenues and profits. And every company wants to control costs and save money.

If you can get in front of the right employer and show him or her that you can either make or save more money than you’re asking for in salary, that employer will either hire you for an existing job or create a job for you.

Read that last paragraph again. It holds the key to every successful job search!

And, to repeat, it doesn’t matter what the economy is doing, or how much the talking heads on TV are bemoaning layoffs, outsourcing, off-shoring, or any other economic “news.” All that counts is your ability to do exactly four things:

1. choose a specific job you want to do;

2. choose a company you want to work for;

3. meet with a hiring authority at your target company;

4. demonstrate exactly how much money you can make or save for them.

It all starts when you refuse to go along with the crowd and let outside events influence your inner attitude. In fact, you may just start to laugh at bad economic news, because it can cause other people to stop looking for jobs, leaving less competition for you.

2) Act Differently
Once you start thinking differently and more opportunistically, it’s easy to start acting differently and more effectively.

Here’s how one California man did just one thing differently in his job search — and how it made the phone ring with interview offers for the first time in months …

First, some background.

I’ve written before that you can pique employers’ curiosity by writing them a letter in which you offer to send them a report to help improve their business.

It need be no more than 2-3 pages, describing the best, most valuable things you’ve done on the job, and their specific value. (Google my article, “Can You Write a Simple Report? You Can Get Hired” to learn more.) One reader, Michael Schwab from Los Angeles, California, not only read that advice, he acted on it. And he struck pay dirt.

Michael was smart. He took the time to ask his network of contacts about the target company and learned enough about their products to tailor a letter that got attention.

He says: “I wrote a letter yesterday offering to send a report and got an email from the recruiter an hour later — they want to interview me. In my original email, I proposed two options: (1) helping with their existing product areas, and (2) helping build out a new area of practice involving different software products.”

So, next time, instead of sending a resume, why not try something different? Write a letter offering specific ways to improve your target employer’s business. Because, while few employers get up in the morning wanting to get a resume in the mail, every employer wants to increase profits. All you have to do is show them how.

When you offer solutions instead of a resume, you’re not acting like a typical job seeker. You’re acting like a star employee. And you’ll have little or no competition for your next job when you do.

It all starts when you think and act a little bit differently.

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