Tag Archives: LinkedIn

public relations

That Awkward Personal Branding – Improving your LinkedIn Profile

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Gone are the days of anonymity, to be successful in 2018, you have to embrace personal branding. I’ve had quite a few people ask me for help with their LinkedIn profiles. They have asked where to start, what to do and what to say. The exchange generally begins with reluctance to include a photo and is followed by a hesitation to post projects or examples of their work. As for the summary statement, well that conversation usually requires a strong coffee or glass of wine.

Given the number of tools, hints and prompts LinkedIn gives to users to enhance profiles, I’ve often wondered why anyone would have an incomplete or weak profile.  But after years of giving advice (solicited and otherwise) I realize it all comes down to personal branding. People want help because it’s weird tooting your own horn in public. It’s not so much that the concept of personal branding is new as much as it’s new to most of us.  Hollywood stars, corporate leaders and political candidates to name a few, worry about personal branding and so they should, but the rest of us?  Well, we may want to maintain our good reputations but we never had to take out an ad to do it and it feels weird, awkward…like bragging, but with more reach.

In the past, resumes were generally discreet documents.  They were shared with potential employers and human resources employees, they weren’t posted for just anyone to look at.  Now we have LinkedIn and it can provide far more information about us than any resume ever has.  What’s more, potential employers are eating it up.  HR professionals will often look at your LinkedIn profile before they even consider looking at your resume.

It’s also where colleagues go to find you.  Unlike Facebook, there’s no awkward role confusion. I don’t generally want to talk about my weekend with my LinkedIn contacts.  So, when people ask for help with their LinkedIn sites, they are generally looking for the public relations support that used to be the purview celebrities.

Clever photographers have figured it out and will offer suggestions to clients for the perfect LinkedIn photo. Automated graphic design companies are offering the use of programs that can transform all that information into a poster, which can be added to your profile. Perhaps it’s inevitable that communications people would start to assess and suggest how to achieve a better digital persona. In any case, I would suggest this:

  • Be honest: The same rules apply to LinkedIn as apply to resumes, times ten.  If you include false information on your LinkedIn page, someone, somewhere will spot it and talk about it.  I’ve had no less than four people approach me about a particular persons “inaccurate” LinkedIn page. I use the word inaccurate, they used words like, liar, faker, self-centred, conceited, who does that jerk think …well you get the picture.  That can have a serious impact on your reputation, the very thing you are trying to protect and promote.
  • Provide brief descriptions of your roles: Do include a brief description of the jobs you held. Titles can bear little resemblance to the work we actually do. For instance, one of my old titles was Senior Director Communications and Relations.  If I asked fifty people to tell me what they thought I did, I’d be lucky if I only got back 50 descriptions and amazed if any of them actually resembled my job.
  • Use the summary to differentiate yourself: Do take the opportunity to use the summary option. It is a chance to share a little about your personal style and your intentions, not to mention a great opportunity to make the different pieces of your background come together. This is your chance to define yourself in a few words.

Feel free to take a look at mine, it may actually prompt me to update it.

  • Engage with peers and potential clients: Engage in some of LinkedIn’s communities or groups that fit you.  Aside from expanding your professional network, and accessing useful information, you will meet some amazing people.There is more to personal branding than LinkedIn.  It’s an easy and obvious tool, but consider making it a gateway to other things like personal projects, blogs/websites, PowerPoints, YouTube offerings, your imagination will provide the limits.
  • Don’t be shy: My best piece of advice is, don’t be shy. There are no prizes for the most modest LinkedIn page and no potential or current employer, client or colleague is looking at your profile to see how mediocre you are, so take the opportunity to shine and show your best sides. Showing your best includes always taking the time to be polite on LinkedIn’s various communities.
  • Ask for advice: If it feels really weird then ask a friend or colleague to help you fill it out so you don’t let unhelpful modesty get the best of you.  Don’t forget to look to LinkedIn itself for best practices and tips. There are professional services like storeylineresumes.com who can help you with your resume and your LinkedIn profile.

    Above all, think about the old Dove commercial slogan,  you’re more beautiful than you think.

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Communications, public relations

Getting the angle right, your personal brand photo

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I was thinking about pictures the other day, pictures of scones to be precise and wondering how I wanted to set the scene for them. What props would work, what lighting would be good, how would I convey quality? It struck me that I was more worried about how the food would look than most people are about the pictures of themselves they post. They weren’t even my scones.

I’m even worst when it comes to people. I will spend ages thinking about how I want board members, senior management or the CEO viewed. I have destroyed images of senior management I thought were in poor taste or inconsistent with the corporate brand. I’ve also used funny pictures of the CEO to convey warmth and humour to staff. The point is, some thought should go into each photo and how it’s used.  What is the objective, what message is being conveyed, what audience are you talking to?

I have watched with some curiosity and a little dismay as coquettish, slightly boudoir, images have shown up on LinkedIn. I have a sense of humour, so while I often find them funny they also make me a touch uncomfortable because they really don’t belong on LinkedIn. I can’t help but wonder what the person is trying to convey in a business setting. Here are some tips for what to avoid.

The Boudoir Photo: If there is a feather boa in the image, then don’t use the image for your professional shot. It’s not that I have anything against feather boas but what they call to mind are things like, the Rocky Horror Picture Show and exotic dancers. Unless you are selling costumes or polls for dancing, lose the feathers.

The Angry Woman: Do you know what happens when you hold your phone in your hand and look down on it in concentration as you take a selfie? You get the Angry Man/Woman photo.  It’s a photo of your nostrils, always attractive, while you look down your nose at the viewer. How appealing.  If you are smiling then it can look creepy or patronizing. If you’re not smiling, you have the perfect Angry Man. If you’re going to use a selfie, lift your hand to head level or slightly higher.

The Location Shot: I’ve seen quite a few “professional” shots of young men at the beach lately. The attire is what you might expect for a beach photo, shorts, and shades. In some really interesting branding choices, the person is not wearing a shirt. The individual is often trying to give me advice. I think they are trying to say, “Look at me, I’m so successful I now live the good life.”

What I see is a guy too inexperienced to know what’s appropriate. Here’s my advice, if it’s good enough for a restaurant, then it’s good enough for your professional photo. No shirt, no shoes, no service. Extend the thought to include that there should be no shorts or shades in a professional photo.

Where’s Waldo: The Where’s Waldo photo comes in many forms. It’s can be anything from a family photo or a corporate shot. What they have in common is that there’s more than one person visible. So now the viewer gets to choose.  Is it the guy on the left or right?  Where is the subject? If it’s a man and woman in the photo, the poster’s name might give you a clue, providing their name isn’t gender neutral like Kelly, Beverly or Pat. Even if the name does make it clear, why is the other person in the photo? What is the unstated message?

Eye Spy:  These are among my personal favourites. It’s really about not wanting to include a photo of yourself so you use one where you are so small that the viewer can’t quite see you. It’s the photo of the Grand Canyon and you’re off to the side like a perspective reference. This is a useless shot and tells the viewer you don’t really get the point of including a photo.

I could go on, the photo with plunging neckline for men or women is a no go, as is the open mouth speech shot. The point is, decide what you are trying to convey about your personal brand with a photo. Do you want to earn trust, their time or just their attention?

I get that people don’t want to be sheep.  I appreciate wanting to do something a little different, you can do that without becoming goofy. Above all else, a professional photo is supposed to make you look like a professional, or at least it shouldn’t make you look like a felon.

Some quick tips for good shots. 

  • Use natural lighting. This does not mean squinting into the sun, but it does mean avoiding unnecessary shadows or that shiny-face look that can happen in night shots. Not to mention the red eyed demon that comes with poor lighting.
  • Focus on the chest up or just head and shoulders. This means you will be the central focus of the image.
  • Think about how you want to be seen by a client, not your buddies.
  • Use a professional photographer.  When chosen well, they are worth every penny.  Consider it an investment in yourself.

How did you choose your photo and why? Do you think your photo matters to your brand? Have you ever seen a photo and thought…what were they thinking? Have you ever seen a photo and thought, brilliant!

Image courtesy of stockimages/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

 

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Communications, Management

Wanted: Communications Goddess

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Wanted - Communications Goddess

When job descriptions become a communications nightmare.

Chatting with old colleagues, fellow communicators and bloggers on LinkedIn is always good fun and every once in a while I come across something that makes me want to share more widely. In this instance, it started with a series of odd job descriptions that I came across a few months back. In one notable announcement the job description ran for more than three pages…that’s over three pages of required skills and responsibilities. One of my more discerning fellow communicators posted the ad to our LinkedIn group and posed the question, “Who could possibly qualify for this job?”

 

Wanted Communications Goddess

Many of us read the ad, there are about 163,212 in this particular group, and with some amazement we debated about who had written it. Who could be so clueless? Was there an internal candidate they were trying to protect or avoid? It couldn’t have been written by a human resources professional…we hoped. While we mused over who could have been so silly, more concerning was, who would apply for it? Surely anyone foolish enough, confident enough, delusional or desperate enough would quickly find herself overloaded and overwhelmed. No one thought the individual could exist who had all the skills. The responsibilities were simply too diverse, web master, product marketer, social media strategist and on and on it went. We decided that even if there was someone on the planet who could lay claim to most of the skills, when on earth were they ever going to find the time to put them into play? It made us all wonder about the firm who posted the ad. What on earth would their culture be like?

 

No Super Heroes Need Apply

The challenge with a bad job description is that it not only means you won’t find who you’re looking for but it also takes a toll on how your organization is perceived. Jobs with ridiculous descriptions or ones that have to be posted multiple times make people think twice about applying. They assume the role was filled and vacated and that begs the question, what happened? If you do manage to find some brave soul to apply then you have to manage their inevitable despondency and disengagement. To add insult to injury, it often takes a long time for the employer to know that it’s the description that has failed and not the employee. In worst-case scenarios employees are fired and replaced several times before someone figures out that they should rethink the job. Most of the time employees figure out pretty quickly that the job simply can’t be done, but coming to that realization and trying to explain it to a boss are two very different things. In some instances the employee throws themselves at the job with great abandon hoping that if they just apply a heroic effort they can make it happen. Burnout will eventually get them and then it’s back to the drawing board.

Noted human resources consultant, Lou Adler explores the job description challenge in various articles on LinkedIn and Inc., as well as, in his book, Hire With Your Head: Using Performance-Based Hiring to Build Great Teams. Adler suggests that instead of describing a job based on skills, hiring managers should consider what the right candidates would need to do in order to be successful in the job. He argues that when performance is the lens through which a job is viewed, flaws in the description become evident. He also suggests that managers interview departing employees to discover if the job has changed over time. Take a look at this short video.

 

What do you think? Would you would prefer, to be interviewed on performance or skills? Would you be more responsive to a job description based on skills or performance? Ever come across a job that would take a goddess to perform?

Image courtesy of Gameanna/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

 

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Communications

10 tips for working with a graphic designer

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The TED video above provides some interesting and relevant insight into the strength and focus incorporating relevant graphic design can bring to your project. I encourage you to take a look.

Whether you’re a small business owner or a communications guru it’s often difficult to determine how to work with a graphic designer to produce the results you want.The following are some tips to help you navigate.

  • Graphic Designers of all Kinds: Like any profession, not all graphic designers work the same way or at the same calibre. Some have a particular brand or style that they sell while others may specialize in certain kinds of products like magazines or books. Other designers or their shops are more diverse and can offer a wide range of services.  Think about what you are trying to accomplish with your design and then look for the fit that works best for you. Sometimes local graphic design associations can lend you hand or at least you can see who the local award winners are.
  • Checking the Fit: Look at the graphic designer’s website to see what they have done with other clients. Do they provide bios of their designers? Do they share their design philosophy? Do they have a blog that gives you insight into their professional approach or personality? What does their LinkedIn profile offer? All of these will help you to determine fit.
  • Meet Them: Arrange to speak with them and make sure that if you are working with a firm, you get to meet the designer you will work with. There is no point hitting it off with the owner, only to find that you will be working with their summer student.  Ask them about their project management style, how will they keep you informed of progress? How will they create a schedule?
  • Tell the designer what you want to achieve:  Once you’ve made your choice, clearly state your objectives. By discussing what you want to achieve with the project, you are more likely to have a product that delivers when it’s completed. This doesn’t mean being highly prescriptive about what the design should look like, after all, if you could design it yourself, then you wouldn’t be hiring a graphic designer. Websites differ in size, look, feel and contents, so simply saying you would like a website isn’t going to help. Explain what the site has to deliver, did you have a great product and want to make sure clients appreciate the value? It’s really about giving the designer a clear understanding of what you want to communicate.
  • Be clear about your style and brand: Make sure that your initial planning meeting provides a clear understanding of your organization’s brand and style. If the focus is an event, make sure the designer understands who attends the event and what they get from it.  If the objective is sales, make sure they know who the potential customers are. This is really about making sure that the audience for your product is clearly understood.
  • Ask for two to three initial concepts: Even with the best description in the world, how you imagine a design will look and what the designer is thinking can vary greatly.  By requesting three different concepts (not variations on a single theme and not a full mock up), not only are you charging the designer to use their imagination, but you are giving yourself an opportunity to see the project in a different way from how you might have imagined it. I have often found that the concept that came closest to what I was thinking at the start of a project is not the one that delivers the message best.  Stay open.
  • Timing Matters: At the onset of a project the time frame for final delivery should be clearly established.  It is then up to the designer to work backwards from that date and let you know if they can deliver what you need in that time.  Keep in mind that multiple changes in content and direction will affect timelines.
  • Make Sure You Do Your Part: The best graphic designer in the world will fail if the client is inconsistent or unclear about objectives.  Just as you wanted to meet the designer you would be working with, the designer needs to know who the buck will stop with for the project. Remember, if you have a revelation or change of heart half way through a project because your boss just figured out what you’re doing, you have to let the designer know and expect that you will also have to pay for that change of heart. Their time is valuable and while they want to make you and your project shine, they can only do that by working with you. Don’t be vague and distant and then surprised and angry if the project doesn’t work the way you expected.
  • Pitfalls:  I’ll know what I like when I see it.This sentence comes right before failure. Generally, if you say this, its because you don’t really know what you like. Graphic designers are very talented, but they have not mastered the art of mind reading. Also consider that what you like may not be what your clients need.
  • Graphic designers design: They are not writers or editors, so make sure that the content you send them has been reviewed and edited.  Make sure that you do a final review of the product before it gets to the printer.

Do you have a favorite poster, book, brochure etc that captured your attention because of great design? Have you ever worked with a graphic designer?  Would you like to work with one?

If you like this article, checkout Are You Creating Misinformation?

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Communications, Management, public relations, Uncategorized

You Online, The Forever Footprint

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu1C-oBdsMM]

When I wrote, “That Awkward Personal Branding”, I referenced the bright side of an online persona.  The way it can work to your advantage if you are honest and polite. Being present online can get you a new job, an informal or formal education, a new profession; it can introduce you to interesting and bright people.  What was not explored was that sometimes there is a downside to being online or at least that some caution is required. I had a different post lined up for this week, but then I had some interesting conversations and when I ran across the video above, I decided to write this post instead. The TED video provides some brilliant insight on the reality of our online lives and I thought I should share it and some of my own perceptions.

I grew up in a large and extended West Indian family and it always struck me as uncanny how my aunts in Montreal could know what my cousins in Barbados were doing at any given time and vice versa. The family grapevine was fast, effective and efficient.  You couldn’t blink without it being recorded, shared and discussed. It was therefore always a bit of a challenge to me to try to operate under the radar. Doing something, anything, and keeping it a secret was an accomplishment. It’s not that I was doing anything nefarious, questionable or even interesting.  It’s simply that when it seems as if every waking moment of your life is constantly being transmitted through the world’s most well-organized grapevine, you learn to appreciate privacy.

Given that background, you can imagine that when Facebook first emerged, it gave me nothing less than the creeps.  It felt very much like a self-inflicted Big Brother scenario. Why would anyone want everyone  knowing their activities? I watched with some amazement as people I knew and respected posted pictures and particulars about things that would have been better kept discreet or at least offline.  In a professional capacity, I have quietly scooped up and destroyed compromising photos of colleagues that would have devastated even the best careers. I have cringed when friends have posted highly political commentary and have blasted my son on more than one occasion for inappropriate posts from him and his friends.

So having said that, why would I ever encourage anyone to be online or promote themselves online?  The answer is that social media is a reality.  It’s not going to fade away and become a distant memory.  For good or bad, it’s part of our culture and imbedded in the way we communicate, so use it. Engage but be strategic about it.  If you were remembered for one thing, would you want that comment you recently made on Facebook or LinkedIn to be it? Would you be all right sharing your online comments with your boss, your mother or religious leader?  If the answer is no, then you may want to rethink what you post. Your digital trail is forever, so make each forever footprint with care.

Generational differences mean that my children and even those ten or fifteen years younger than me are comfortable posting things I wouldn’t dream of sharing.  When you grow up in the shadow of Facebook and the internet, your perception of what is private is very narrow, but it shouldn’t be taken for granted. Provocative language, heavily loaded double entendres and sexually suggestive witticisms are brilliant repartee at the dinner party table, but not necessarily, what you want to put out there for potential employers or clients. Most of the cues that are present in real life exchanges are missing online.  The sarcastic tone, the raised eyebrow or the knowing smirk that put a different meaning on words are all absent in online exchanges. You never assume in communications.  You always act with the expectation that your audience will need specificity, transparency and information.  If you know that the majority of messages are delivered through non-verbal cues, then you understand that when you engage online you are always communicating at a disadvantage.  In this setting clarity becomes king.

A very smart businessperson recently asked me, “Would you rather be on record online as a new Plato, Cicero or Voltaire or a Dr. Ruth or Pamela Anderson?”

While I don’t expect to reach the intellectual heights of the first three, reason, if not experience, would have me avoid the pitfalls of the last two. Dr. Ruth for the focus of her conversation and Pamela for her illustration of the same. I have other ideas to explore. To that end, I would encourage caution when managing your online persona. Engage and be present, post and share your ideas.  Take advantage of the benefits that online life has to offer, and there are many, but always ask yourself, would I be comfortable with everyone in my life seeing what I wrote and is this how I want to be remembered?

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