Successful Blog

Put a Face to that Name! Use Images to Build your Personal Brand Online

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By Diana Gomez

For many small business owners, their integrity is the backbone of their enterprise. Loyal customers depend on them to reliably deliver exceptional goods and services. This personal trust is a key reason that many of these “Davids” can successfully compete with the “Goliaths.”

As more products and services are transacted online, it has become more difficult for small businesses to maintain the personal relationships that can provide a competitive edge. This is why it is so important to cultivate personal identities and relationships on the web as well.

One easy way to get started is to incorporate personal photos into your online activities. A good approach is to treat your personal profile as if it is your brand. After all, in many ways it is!

images for personal branding

Take a cue from savvy brand marketers:

• Packaging is everything: Consumer products companies spend millions of dollars to design packaging that is appealing to the customer. Make the effort to take some good photos of yourself as well. In most cases, this would be a professional, recognizable head shot. Remember, unless you happen to be a big-time wrestler, you want your image to be friendly and portray trust!

• Be Consistent: Brand marketers generally try to display their brand consistently across all products and media. The same goes for your photo. Consider using the same one in all of your on-line activities. In a way, your photo becomes an instantly recognizable brand logo in the online community.

• Protect the Brand: Many companies go to extraordinary lengths to protect their brands. You should do the same with your online identity. Be careful how your profile and photos are distributed and portrayed on the web. Monitor your online persona. Take corrective action to remove posts that aren’t “on message.”

Once you’ve defined your personal brand, it’s time to publish it. Here are a few places to start:

• If you have a Facebook or LinkedIn account, it’s likely that you have already posted a personal photo. Start by reviewing these and any other photos already on-line and consider replacing them with some that are more suitable.

• If your business has a website, you will want to personalize it with photos. This is one of the few venues where photos other than headshots may be appropriate. Just make sure that they are professional and consistent with your strategy.

• Consider adding your personal photo to your email signature. If you decide to do this, resize the photo and be selective in its use. Some recipients discourage this practice as it can add to the size of the email, but most email providers now make it easier than ever to add images.

• Some integrated phone systems such as Microsoft Lync enable you to add photos to your profile. The system will display these personal images in contacts, email, phone and IM communications.

• By adding a photo to your Google+ profile, it will be accessible from other Google offerings such as Authorship or Hangouts. These applications will link to your profile and further expand its reach. Your photo can even be displayed in Google search results.

• Blogging tools such as WordPress can incorporate your photo. This same image will then be displayed in your posts on all WordPress Blogs. While many people use avatars for blog posts, consider adding your headshot instead.

• Of course, you can also add a photo to your profile on a multitude of individual sites such as Twitter, Skype and Yelp. Be sure to take advantage of these whenever you can.

The old adage that “a picture is worth a thousand words” is just as true today as it was a hundred years ago. Incorporating personal photos into your online activities will help you build and maintain valuable relationships with your customers. Goliath won’t have a chance!

Author’s Bio: Diana Gomez is the Marketing Coordinator at Lyoness America, where she is instrumental in the implementation of marketing and social media strategies for USA and Canada. Lyoness is an international shopping community and loyalty rewards program, where businesses and consumers benefit with free membership and money back with every purchase.

Photo Credit: Brian Auer via Compfight cc

Mastering a Social Media Career

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asociallle

Are you an avid Facebook user? Do you enjoy keeping friends up to date on your activities with multiple Twitter posts? Do your pins get re-pinned on a regular basis from Pinterest?

You just might be able to turn your love of social media into a career.

Career Options for Social Media Fans

You can begin as a content writer for social media sites and work your way up to manager and finally to strategist.

There are also other jobs in between these options that range from providing the content to organizing it to incorporating social media into an entire marketing strategy.

The different jobs require various experience or education and provide different levels of income.

Starting at the bottom is the content writer that can earn between $14,000 and $60,000 annually based on experience and the job demands. Public relations managers and social media strategists can earn six figures in the larger cities.

How to Get Started

If you want to know how mastering social media can turn into a career, you have to get away from your computer and meet the professionals.

Attend events, conferences, and seminars on social media. Don’t just sit in a corner and listen; use these opportunities to network. Pick the brains of those who are successful to find out what they did to get where they are.

Social media is just beginning to be viewed as a viable career choice. Because of this fact, there aren’t a lot of training guidelines and requirements to go by. Instead, it is more important that you stay updated on changes in the industry.

Know the latest technology and news about social media. You must know them in-depth, understand the newest tools and applications. You must know what is current, but also where social media is headed.

Of course, some standard education will put you ahead of the game.

A background in marketing and public relations or even journalism can give you an edge over the competition.

Perhaps the best advice for people who want to have a career in social media is to develop a strong online presence on social networks.

By creating networks and demonstrating your ability to gain a strong following, you can show your skills to potential employers.

Finding Jobs

Put your contact information on your sites to make it easy for people who stumble across your profiles to contact you. Join groups and establish strong profiles on networks such as LinkedIn to enhance your visibility.

Also, don’t be afraid to approach potential employers.

See a company that you’d like to work for that either doesn’t have a social network nor has one that is ineffective? Send them a message and let them know how you can help them. You have to be able to tell companies why social media is important and why you are the right person for the job.

As social media continues to grow and develop more credibility, more businesses and organizations will increase their interest in it.

This means that there will be more jobs for people like you.

Photo credit: my6essentials.com

About the Author: Joyce Morse is an author who writes on a variety of topics, including SEO and social media.

Why You Shouldn’t Put Your Title on a Business Card

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(Updated in 2020)

By Rob Young

If you’ve sought help to create the perfect business card you’ve probably found many people insist that you include your title on it. While including your title on a business card has its uses, in some cases it does more harm than good. Whether you’re the founder of a startup or an employee in an international company, these are a few reasons you might consider removing the title from your business card.

business cards

It can make you complacent

Printing your title on your business cards after you’ve just launched your start up might make you feel important, but it could be counter-productive. While it can inspire some people to take bold decisions and work night and day to ensure their business is a success, more commonly this false sense of importance clouds judgement and contributes to a false sense of achievement that leaves you vulnerable to complacency.

Leaving the title off your business card is a great (and free) way to remind yourself that you still have plenty to achieve — who knew that getting rid of a title could provide so much motivation?

You can appear egotistical or delusional

If you you’ve given yourself a fancy sounding title in the hopes of impressing potential clients, business partners or even your employees, be prepared for the opposite, especially if you appear young and inexperienced. At best people could think that you have an inflated ego, which might put people off from working with you. Worse still, you might just come across as delusional, with an unrealistic and immature approach to business.

It limits you

A job title is meant to give people an idea of what you do, but sometimes it can unintentionally give them a false impression of what you don’t do and if someone thinks you’re incapable of doing something and chooses not to pursue a relationship with you your business card might as well have been a blank piece of paper. Leave the job title off your business card and you give yourself the flexibility to adapt your responsibilities and abilities to the individual situation. And remember, as long as you have a pen handy, you can always add information to a business card.

Going incognito has its benefits

You might imagine that it’s always best to introduce yourself as the boss, but if you’ve ever seen Undercover Boss you’ll understand the value of being able to assume a different role. Whether it’s trying to leverage a better deal with a supplier or find out what other people really think of your company, the ability to be a chameleon in business comes with many benefits.

It’s a conversation starter

Maintaining a little bit of mystery is a great way to pique someone’s interest. Remove your job title from your business card and you’’ll find that people will start asking what exactly it is you do. This is a great opportunity to really sell yourself and the business you represent, you don’t have to reply with just your job title. Just bear in mind that removing all your details from your business card will only make you look foolish and incompetent.

It looks elegant, bold and chic

It’’s universally accepted that your business card shouldn’t be overloaded with information. Being ruthless and leaving out unnecessary details is a straightforward way to make an impact with your business card. Think your title is a necessary detail? Think again. Your email address or contact telephone number is essential, your title is an extra.

To avoid politics and resentment

Titles could lead to resentment and jealousy in a company. You could say that such employees shouldn’t be appeased by leaving job titles off business cards, but if something so simple could lead to a more productive company culture shouldn’t it at least be considered, especially when there are so many other reasons to ditch titles?
Do you really need that title?

Of course there are plenty of valid reasons to include your title on a business card, if you’re dealing with businesspeople with inflated egos, for example, they might consider titles important enough that they only want to deal with people they believe to be on their level. What’s important is that you don’t assume your job title should automatically be on your business card. Instead weigh up the pros and cons and do what’s best for your business or career.

Author’s Bio: Rob Young is Head of Online Marketing at business card printers MOO. He likes to share his knowledge and experience on a number of topics including networking and design.

Photo Credit: antoniocasas – homofotograficus.com via Compfight cc

Should You Turn Down a Better Paying Job for Job Security?

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ajob

A higher paying job can bring a positive change to your life. However, it may not necessarily be a better job option if you are not confident that you can keep it for a long time.

If your current job or another job offers better security, you may want to think twice before diving headlong into the more lucrative job.

Here are the pros and cons of turning down a higher paying job for job security:

Pros of Choosing Job Security over Higher Pay

Lower Risk of Losing Your Job

A high paying job is generally more sought after, and therefore, it may offer lower job security.

If a company is willing to offer a high salary for a certain position, it should not have difficulty finding suitable candidates.

As such, there is a higher chance that you will be replaced if you do not meet your employer’s expectations satisfactorily. Sticking to your current job or getting a secure job puts you at a lower risk of losing your job.

Less Stressful

Salary is usually determined by job requirements and responsibilities.

If you decide to take a better paying job, you have to be prepared to assume greater responsibilities.

Playing a more important role and working in a new environment can make you feel uncertain, anxious and worried, and contribute to your stress level. Stress can affect your work performance and make it more difficult for you to hold on to the job.

If you feel that you will be more comfortable staying in your current job or getting a less stressful job, it may be a good idea to turn down the higher paying job.

Enhance Your Resume

Being employed by a company for a long time shows that you are a loyal employee, and it will make your resume look better.

If you cannot hold on to the high-paying job for long and have to look for another job, it may give your future interviewer the impression that you are a job hopper.

Also, if your current employer is not happy with your decision to leave the company, he or she may not give you a good reference.

Cons of Choosing Job Security over Higher Pay

Miss Out On an Opportunity to Improve Your Quality of Life

Getting a higher paying job enables you to meet your financial obligations more easily and improve your quality of life.

If you have a family, you can provide a better life for your spouse and children, and enjoy greater financial peace of mind. However, the improved financial situation may not last long if your new job is not secure.

Give Up a Possible Chance to Advance Your Career

The higher paying job you are offered may be a career advancement opportunity.

Other than offering a higher salary, it may also provide a chance for you to learn and perform higher-level tasks or assume a leadership role. It may be your dream job if you are able to hold on to it.

Making the wrong career move can have a negative impact on your life.

Just as many smaller companies worry about their small business reputation, those job hunting and/or changing careers need to be resolute to the fact that different jobs offer different possibilities.

Make sure you weigh the pros and cons above before you decide whether you should accept or turn down a higher paying but less secure job.

As a professional, what is more important to you in regards to a career, your salary or your security?

Photo credit: thinkbigmagazine.com

About the Author: John McMalcolm has written a wide variety of blog posts and articles for many websites, from resume tips to running a small business.

Book Review: Absolute Value, By Itamar Simonson & Emanuel Rosen

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What happens when marketers get naked?

Absolute Value: What Really Influences Customers in the Age of (Nearly) Perfect Information, is the answer to that question.

Stripped of their exclusive access to broadcast media, stripped of their information monopoly, stripped of their banner ads, stripped of their SEO tricks, marketers in 2014 have awakened to a new reality. Consumers have access such a diverse array of data that they can (if they choose) make much more informed purchasing decisions.

This book explores how this state of affairs came to be, how consumers are dealing with their access, and how marketers might still be able to add their voice to the mix.

“In a world with improved access to high-quality information, more and more decisions will be based on absolute values, resulting in better choices overall.” Absolute Value, Simonson & Rosen

The Marketer is Being Stripped, Bit by Bit

Tools like positioning and persuasion are less effective because consumers can see behind the wizard curtain by reading blogs, talking to other consumers, and reading reviews.

The value of brand and loyalty is disappearing as consumers are able to rely on a huge amount of actual information from experts and weak-tie fellow consumers. Simonson & Rosen suggest that a consumer’s decision to buy is affected by a mix of three related sources: individual preferences, beliefs, and experiences (P); other people and information services (O); and marketers (M). Marketers need to be aware of where their audience lies on the POM continuum so that they can respond accordingly. Which information does your typical customer rely on most heavily?

The power of advertising has been undercut as well. There must be a shift away from random banner ads to get “top of mind” awareness, and toward ads that are closer to the decision point and provide actionable information to the person as they are about to buy. Top of mind ads are less effective because they get overwritten by other info that comes along in the noise stream.

Another tool in the marketing arsenal was the traditional funnel. There used to be a reliable, predictable path from awareness to action. The new consumer doesn’t care about the funnel. He/she will now often employ what Simonson & Rosen term “couch tracking,” accumulating lots of information over time, even before the need for a product is identified. Marketers need to focus more attention on the couch-trackers, who frequent online communities and forums as they have a certain product or brand “on their radar,” because they are likely to make a decision before marketers are even aware of them.

What Happens Now?

When power is taken away from the marketers, does it come at the expense of good business decisions? Will consumers use the big data available to them to support good decisions or will it lead to more irrationality as they choose the sources of data they want to use?

Will consumers with limited or no access to the additional data be more susceptible to manipulation because they don’t have access? Will marketers be hip to that and use it to their advantage?

Perhaps we will end up with “less sugar in our information diet” and “less sugarcoating” as real-world reviews and referrals take the place of rotating banner ads.

The release of this book could not be more timely. Within the conversations about big data, content shock, and influencer marketing, there must be a discussion of the absolute value proposition.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received an advance copy of this book free from Harper Business. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work for on the Internet . Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

How do you label yourself?

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When I was in 8th grade, my math teacher had a tradition of writing down little pithy comments about each student for the yearbook. She read them out loud at the end of the year, in front of the whole class. Her quote about me was: “pretty, pert little lady with an unexpected smile.”

It’s been 35 years since she gifted me with that observation, and it has stuck with me all this time. The power of labels runs deep.

But labels can either empower you or disable you—it’s your choice. How you identify yourself to the world, and how others publicly identify you, makes a big impact on your success. If you commit to a label strongly enough, behavioral science tells us that others will reinforce that label as well.

Labeling behavior happens applies to you as a business person, as well as your website or blog. Don’t forget to clarify your website’s purpose while you’re considering your own “tagline.”

How you label yourself

When you tell someone about your business, or your job, do you use the word “just” (e.g.,, “I’m just a blogger”) or do you minimize your accomplishments (e.g., “I run a small marketing agency—you’ve probably never heard of us”)? Stop doing that.

Be ready with a memorable response when someone asks you what you do for a living. “I’m the creative force behind ABC Agency,” or “I dish out innovative PR advice on a daily basis at the ABC Blog” or “I’m a wild and crazy guy!”

How others label you

Are you paying attention to how others describe you in conversation or online when they introduce you? Do other people know what your secret sauce is, well enough to relay it to others?

Try this experiment today: go ask a few people how they would introduce you at a networking event. Get a nice sampling from your family, a friend, a colleague, and an online acquaintance. I’ll bet the results are revealing!

Use your new “personal tagline” in your online profiles, bios for your guest posts, and corporate marketing materials. Use it when anyone asks you what you do. Remember, it’s perfectly acceptable to evolve your tagline over time.

And don’t forget to smile.

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work for on the Internet . Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee