Social media is not just an excellent tool to grow your brand identity and connect with customers, it is also one of the best tools for customer service. Followers of brands on social media expect a two-way and more from companies than ever before. Followers are not only looking for the newest coupon or information on the “Spring Line”, they want to be heard! When they are upset and shout it out to the social media world, they are also putting their relationship with the company on the line…”respond and respond well, or we are never ever getting back together.” Continue reading →
2012 was a very eventful year for the social media world. (understatement, I know!) Between acquisitions, introductions of new platforms, and grand site design changes, social media was an ever changing environment. Each time things seemed to calmed down, and marketers could catch their breath for a moment, things got flipped upside-down again. But, even though social media last year was a constantly changing arena, it is important for businesses to understand where each of the social media leaders stood at the end of the year; in addition to the opportunities and threats that face each platform during 2013. Continue reading →
LinkedIn profiles are one of the best tools available for professionals to start developing their personal brand. Think of it as your online resume for both future employers and industry leaders to learn more about you. However, to grow your professional network, you need to optimize your profile so that industry professionals can find you. The following are five steps to increasing the visibility of your LinkedIn profile and highlighting your personal brand. Continue reading →
With hundreds of applicants applying for every job right now, how do you make your resume stand out from the rest? One way is by creating an infographic resume.
My favorite tool for building a visual, dynamic, and interactive resume is Re.Vu. Re.Vu calls its self the “Cure for the Common Resume”. They not only offer free tools for creating your dynamic resume, they also let you select a custom Re.Vu url to direct people to.
There a many different options on Re.Vu to display your work experience, so you will never see two identical Re.Vu resumes. The idea of creating an infographic resume may seem overwhelming, but Re.Vu makes it very easy. By linking your LinkedIn account to your Re.Vu account, all your past and present work information is imported. This makes it really simple to create all the visual graphs, that make your resume pop.
When you begin building your infographic resume, create a biography that explains who you are and what you do, and upload a traditional resume so employers can download it.
Add Social Media to Your Infographic Resume
A great feature of Re.Vu is that you can add links to all your social media profiles to your infographic resume, including:
LinkedIn
Facebook
Twitter
WordPress
Tumblr
Google+
YouTube
Flickr
Stumbleupon
FourSquare
Digg
Blogger
Vimeo
Slide Share
Myspace
Picasa
Posterous
Reddit
Visual Timeline of Your Experience
You can also create a visual timeline, based on the information imported from LinkedIn. The timeline will visually display your work history. Below is an example of what the visual timeline looks like. You can include a detailed description for each entry that will appear on your profile in a popover window when someone clicks on an event.
Integrating Graphs Into Your Infographic
On Re.Vu you can create 9 different infographics to add to your resume. You can add one or all of the following infographics to your resume:
Vital Stats: Your Top Quantifiable Achievements
Job Duties: How You Spend Your Time At Work
Skill evolution: How Your Skills Evolved Over Time
Proficiencies: Your Skill Proficiencies
Quotes: Something Fantastic Someone Has Said About Your Work
Percentages: Your Accomplishments That Can Best Be Expressed As Percentages
Pastimes: How You Spend Your Time When You Aren’t Working
Interest: How Your Interests Have Evolved Over Time
Languages: Languages That Your Speak
Re.Vu also lets you display your portfolio in your infographic and upload work examples that potential employers can download. In addition, you can promote your resume through Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. You can also create a QR code to promote your infographic. You can put it on your business card to direct people to your infographic resume. After you start promoting your resume, you can track profile views, resume downloads, and work example downloads on the profile statistics page.
Using an infographic resume may not be the right approach if you are applying for a job in the accounting or scientific industries, but it is definitely a great tool for applying to jobs in the marketing, design, and media industries. Have fun building your dynamic resume!!!
Have you created an infographic resume before? Do you think you would use an infographic resume to apply for a job? Leave a comment below!!!
I recently watched Jillian Michael’s interview with Tara Mohr, author of “10 Rules for Brilliant Women“. During the interview they discussed the speech mistakes that we unconsciously make during interviews, and during our everday professional life, that can damage our careers. Tara Mohr is renowned for her self-help advice, she has been featured on: Big Think, CNN, Forbes, Huffington Post, Today Show, International Business Times, and USA Today.
In the interview, they talk about four features of our speech that can quickly turn a strong confident statement into an unsure question. The following are the four speech mistakes we make, that we probably don’t even know we are making:
Don’t Discount Your Own Advice
When you are presenting your opinion be careful not to unintentionally add on a ‘disclaimer’, you don’t have to apologize for having an opinion. During an interview, or while at work, try not to down play your opinion by adding a “but” to your sentence.
Saying “I think that…..” is a confident statement that others will take seriously and that will contribute to a discussion. In comparison, statements such as “I think this but…” or “I’m not an expert but…” often make the speaker appear uncertain and the statement appear unimportant.
Lost the “Just” Already
I have never thought about how often I say “just” but I admit I say it a lot (something I plan on changing). This four letter word can quickly turn a strong sentence into a weak one:
Stronger: “I am concerned” “Can I speak with you for a moment?”
Weaker: “I’m just concerned” “Can I speak with you for just a moment?”
While it may be just one word (haha), it may be the difference between leading a conversation and sitting on the side lines.
“Uptalk” is NOT a Good Thing
“Uptalk” is when we raise our pitch at the end of a sentence, like when we ask a question. When you raise our pitch at the end of a sentence, it makes it sound like you are not sure of yourself or confident in your decision/opinion. Tara recommends that we should focus on going down in pitch at the end of a sentence instead of up, this shows authority and confidence. Hey, Oprah does it so it must work!
Pause for a Moment
Whether you are in an interview or giving a presentation, in your mind picturing placing a period at the end of your sentence and then wait a moment. This will protect you from saying something you don’t mean to and helps you make sure that others have a chance to ask their questions.
While they focuse on applying these rules to an job interview, I think that they are definitely applicable to a person’s overall career.
Do you find yourself falling into these speech traps?
If you do, take Tara’s advice and don’t try to change all these habits at once, make this a long term project.
You need to learn to think like a designer if you want to successfully activate your business strategy. Strategy should bring clarity to an organization; it should be a signpost for showing people where you, as their leader, are taking them — and what they need to do to get there. People need an image in their minds — of why you’ve chosen a certain strategy and what you’re attempting to create with it.
Check out this great blog on how thinking like a designer leads to business success. This article breaks down the very interesting relationship between design and business. Have you ever thought that design could impact your business strategy or organization structure. The way that design can spark innovation is they same way it can impact how you make decisions and evolve as a company. This article definitely has inspired be to try breaking away from the way I normally work and take more of a "design" perspective.
My friend’s boyfriend is an idiot. I mean, honestly, I have no idea what she sees in him. He treats her terribly, he’s not good for her, and no, his looks don't compensate for his behavior. So why does she stay with him?
I found this quote by Johnny Depp that seems to answer my question. Turns out that in addition to being one very sexy pirate, the man is a genius…
"Look job, it’s not you, it’s me. I don’t think we’re as compatible as I once thought."
I don't think I have read an article that explains the relationship with one's career better than this one. Kayla Cruz does an excellent job explaining why sometimes you need to leave your job to be happy; in the same way you sometimes need to walk away from an unhealthy relationship with your boyfriend/girlfriend.
My favorite aspect of this article is that it is very positive. Not finding your dream job right away is not a bad thing, it is just one stop on your career path. Kayla states that "It’s okay if you graduate and your first 'dream job' turns out to be an epic fail. CONGRATS! You’re one step closer to finding something you DO like...So don’t be afraid to acknowledge that what you’re doing isn’t the right fit for you and that you need something different. It doesn’t make YOU a failure."
No matter where you are in your career, I recommend reading this article.
So by now I’m sure everyone’s tired of hearing about the Hunger Games. But too bad. I’m still going to write about it. Yea, there are a lot of people annoyed by yet another teen love triangle but I have to say, I picked up some essential business lessons while watching the movie and paying $17 for popcorn and a soda.
Love, love, love this blog post! "Work Lessons From the Hunger Games"
Find out how the following rules will help you to survive at work and "win" your dream career.
Get people to like you, or you’ll die
Be yourself so that people like you so you don’t die
Be memorable or you’ll die
Some people will like your guts but others won’t
A good mentor will help increase your chances of survival
Klout.com is becoming one of the most popular sites for understanding and growing your online network successfully. Klout was created to measure and understand, as well as leverage your brand’s influence online.
A recent article on Forbes.com by Dorie Clark breaks down why your Klout score is important for your brand. It also includes great tips from Alex Lightman, a high ranking Klout member, on how to increase your score.
Your brand’s online influence can not truly be measured solely by the number of Twitter followers or likes on Facebook you have. True influence (Klout) is measured by the content you share and how frequently you interact with your community, as well how often they interact with you. Klout has created a process to convert your brand’s online influence into a number on a scale of 1 – 100. Some of the factors that influence your Klout score are:
Twitter: Retweets and Mentions
Facebook: Comments, Wall-Posts, Likes
LinkedIn: Comments, Likes
Foursquare: Tips, To-Do’s, Done
Google+: Comments, Reshares, +1
Even though the list above mentions “likes” and posts, Klout is not measuring your level of “activity” it is measuring your level of influence!
My favorite feature on Klout is the “Klout Style” report. The report measures:
Whether you share or create content
If the information you share is focused or broad
If you are more of a listener or if you participate in online conversations
Who you influence and who influences you
Based on these factors and more, your brand is categorized into one of 16 categories, including:
Curator
Broadcaster
Dabbler
Conversationalist
Networker
Observer
Specialist
For example, Klout categorizes me as a Networker. Klout defines a Networker as:
“You know how to connect to the right people and share what’s important to your audience. You generously share your network to help your followers. You have a high level of engagement and an influential audience.”
Also, you can find out what topics you are most influential on, compared to those you assume interest your followers. Klout helps you better understand your brand and determine if your strategy is successful. Check out my Klout profile to find out more about what you can learn about your online community Being Your Brand Klout Score
Have you already signed up for Klout? If so, where you surprised by your score or how Klout categorized you? Leave a comment below, I always appreciate your thoughts.
Check out this great infographic below on 9 ways to create your personal branding strategy.
You can’t just create a LinkedIn profile and hope for the best, a lot of thought and work goes into creating and maintaining a personal brand. When creating your personal brand strategy, you need to determine who you are versus how you want to be perceived, or more who you want to become. Changing that party image to one of professionalism and experience. A few tips are:
Define who you are
Set specific goals
Be original, don’t just be your job title
Connect with those in your industry, create a network
Start conversations and monitor your online personal brand
9 Steps to creating your personal brand strategy infographic
