What’s Your Brand and Why Does it Matter?

Joe Cool

Are you Joe Cool?

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Or perhaps you’re the queen of the call center?

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Or just the girl on the go… regardless of snow?

In today’s competitive market, it’s more important than ever to have a personal brand to separate yourself from the pack. But for executives who have experienced a great deal of success, what should go into your brand?

When I have an initial conversation with executives, they communicate a litany of skills and accomplishments, often far ranging and far reaching. Very few are able to succinctly sum up what truly differentiates them and makes them unique. In other words, very few have thought about or developed their personal brand. That’s because to a person, they’ve been wrapped up and committed to developing their company’s brand, focusing on driving performance and profitability.

Having a personal brand not only helps you as an individual, it also reflects well on your company. One of the best examples of this is Steve Jobs, a genuine visionary whose personal brand helped shape Apple as a company that drives innovation.

But when you’re ready to leave your company, what does the marketplace know about you? Have you been diligent and deliberate about developing your brand, calling out what makes you a unique and desirable leader? In today’s digital age, when a quick search and a couple of clicks can reveal so much, are you showing up?

Most executives are not and that’s why it’s crucial to avoid being a digital dinosaur, step into the 21st century and embrace today’s technologies to develop a consistent, cross platform personal brand. It should include a web portfolio, a polished LinkedIn Profile and, if you have time, a Twitter account and perhaps a blog to show off your skills as a subject matter expert. In this way you take control of the content and message and create a unique, memorable personal brand.

Developing your personal brand is what it takes if, instead of running with the pack you want to lead it.

~Linda

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Web Portfolios: The Cutting Edge in Executive Job Search

Web PortfolioEven the most accomplished executives need help branding and packaging themselves for today’s competitive market. Besides a well-written, attention grabbing resume that tells your stories and highlights your skills and achievements, you also need an online presence in the form of a web portfolio. Why a web portfolio?

Logistics. A web portfolio designed with HTML5 enables hiring managers and executives to see your background even when they’re on the go. By including the URL to your web portfolio in your signature line or sending a link via email, the recipient can open an impressive display about you on any tablet, iphone, android or mobile device anywhere they have Internet access. You can also include the link on your LinkedIn profile.

Beyond the resume. A web portfolio allows you to go beyond the resume, enabling you to add sections on successful projects, accolades, articles, patents or any other achievements that will sell you and your brand to the decision maker.

Tech savvy and very “today”. Web portfolios aren’t just for creative types, techies and recent graduates. They show you’ve not only embraced our Internet age, you’ve mastered it. This can be very important for more experienced and shall we say mature executives.

Marketing magic. An expertly written, attractive web portfolio turns you into a cutting-edge candidate who truly stands out. Having a sophisticated, polished web presence gives you a leg up on the competition. You can get that leg up at The Imagemakers, Ink!™ LLC with one of our exceptional web portfolios.

A well-written resume and well-designed web portfolio is the one-two punch you need to knock-out the competition and should be a part of every executive and professional career campaign.

~Linda

 

How A Personal Web Page Can Expedite Your Job Search

Personal Domain

Have you ever read that you should own your personal “name” domain. Well, there are a lot of very good reasons for owning your name domain with the primary one being that you can control and protect it from being used nefariously or prevent anyone from  piggy-backing off of your success. When it comes to job hunting though, there are several reason why you should not only own it, but actually use it to expedite your job search.

Google, Google, Google

While this may seem like a no brainer, a personal web page can be used as a very positive synopsis of your work and life that YOU control. You control the content, you control the message and you control the picture it paints of you. Why is this important? Well in a word…Google. Once your personal page is indexed by Google (Bing and the other search engines) it will almost certainly move on to the first page of results returned by the search engine when someone Googles your name. In fact, more often than not I’ve seen it return as the “top” hit within a very short time for most people because your name is a part of the url.

This means that you get the first crack at telling your story to anyone who Googles you, simple as that. Trust me, they will click on joeblow.com if they’ve just Googled Joe Blow. It’s really just simple human nature and also one of the reasons why the “name” domain rises so fast in search results.

Opportunity

This, as you may have surmised by now, gives you an enormous opportunity to “speak” to a potential employer in a way that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to because Googling you happens before any interview, usually after having been made aware of you through a resume or referral. Oh, and if you think that employers aren’t Googling think again. In today’s world, and especially with jobs as hard to come by as they are right now, employers are using every tool at their disposal to find out as much information as they can about potential candidates and “Googling” is about as easy as it gets.

Bottom Line

The bottom line here is that if you’re in a job search, buy your domain name (they can be had for as little as $10 or less a year) and get something positive up for employers to see. We here at the Imagemakers, Ink! offer personal web pages as one of our many career services because we know how important the web (and Google, Bing, etc.) has become to a successful job search. If you have a common name, there are ways around that and we can help, just give us a call!

~Stu