Personal Visibility – The Power of You! | A First Impression Guide & Visibility Resource

What You Say May Not Matter Anyway!

“What you do speaks so loud, that I cannot hear what you say.”

–Ralph Waldo Emerson

In today’s environment, Emerson’s words might be interpreted this way: The behavioral algorithms are so good it may not matter what your profile or social resume says about you––your behavior trumps everything! Your ever-expanding digital DNA is a reflection of you and everyone from investigative agencies to marketing and research companies are getting better and better at figuring out exactly who you are and what you like or don’t like, no matter who you say you are. A simple set of algorithms applied to your Facebook page for instance can determine your ethnicity, political affiliation, socio-economic level, sexuality, drug-use habits and even if your parents separated when you were young. These same algorithms are capable of predicting personality types and emotional stability… or the lack thereof. Early efforts at this science have even shown a correlation with people liking certain foods having higher IQ’s while liking a particular page on Facebook might be an indicator for drug use––pages that don’t have anything whatsoever to do with drugs or the related culture.

Personal data is big business and with the effort being put into psychometrics, it’s only a matter of time before our personal data is routinely being exploited for commercial gain and more. The truth is, it’s already happening. Take Facebook’s own EdgeRank system, which is their proprietary scoring system based on algorithms they use to determine which objects show up in your News Feed. In other words, it is their attempt to optimize the news feed to show relevant content predicated on your previous activities on Facebook. Any chance the ads you’re seeing are a result of those same algorithms? Count on it. Whether Facebook was the first or not really doesn’t matter––they positively won’t be the last! More and more companies are employing similar technology and in spite of your best efforts with privacy settings and careful online interactions: people are looking, will find you and already know more about you than you might think! And as the science improves, those same people will know even more. Scary, huh?

In the meantime, you should be hyper-vigilant about your privacy settings and make certain that you are in control of the controllables. Algorithms notwithstanding, personal visibility remains crucial on both a personal and professional level––every effort should be made to control your personal narrative. Marketing companies aside, your friends, neighbors, co-workers, customers and damn near everyone you encounter on a professional level are looking at and for you online––a helluva lot more often than you might think! What kind of impression do you make? Given that your online visibility is available around-the-clock to anyone choosing to look, you should be making the same online effort that you make in your face-to-face life in terms of presentibility. In other words, your online profile should be the equivalent of that all important meeting or social event that you have to attend. You know the one… you put on your best looking outfit, you’re on your best behavior and you make your best effort to impress. Yes, we all do it!

Isn’t it time for your online image to match your offline persona? Seriously.

Demystifying How Facebook’s EdgeRank Algorithm Works [INFOGRAPHIC] (hubspot.com)
Snap Judgments – - Don’t Be A Victim (tommccollum.me)
Cattle Have It Easy When It Comes To Branding! (tommccollum.me)
Top 3 Reasons To Get Visible NOW! (tommccollum.me)

Snap Judgments––Don’t Be A Victim!

Snap judgments? Let’s be honest, we’ve all made plenty and plenty have been made about us––that’s just the way it is. Maybe it was the shirt a person was wearing, the car they drove or their tone of voice. Maybe it was an email or even a voice mail. It could have been their walk, an interesting hairdo or some quirky mannerism. Isn’t it funny how we can take one small thing and overlay a complete persona. Yes, we all do it. And the scary part: it often sticks and in some cases we become a broadcaster and proliferate an opinion based on our limited if not single interaction with a person. “She must be a bitch.” “I bet he’s a real asshole to work for!” “What a nerd.” All based on a snap judgment, formed in the instant, without deliberation. How many times have you thought one thing and then had an opportunity to really get to know someone only to learn just how wrong you were? And, whether we like it or not, we’ve also been on the receiving end of a snap judgment––that’s just the way it works.

Getting to know someone adds context to who they really are and that person-to-person intimacy allows for a close familiarity and nearness that often reminds us of a metaphorical phrase we were taught as children and yet have a reasonably difficult time following: “Never judge a book by its cover”. In today’s digital environment, one that includes a new social media platform almost daily, person-to-person contact continues to give way to the efficiency of online interaction. And with only 24 hours in a day, who doesn’t thrive on being more efficient? We have connectivity platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Four Square, Yelp, Tumblr, Instagram and too many others to list. Each comes with a personal profile page and the ability to connect and interact with others. As our online relationships continue to grow in numbers, the intimacy of person-to-person contact and interaction is getting more and more difficult to come by. Your ability to add “context” to who you are is getting more difficult and that’s not going to change. As a matter of fact, it’s going to get more and more challenging and that’s why its so important that you take charge of your online persona, control the narrative about yourself and work diligently to add the necessary personal context for your burgeoning network of colleagues––you can influence that all important first impression, even if it is occurring online!

Count on this: If I am scheduled to have a first meeting with you, I will definitely look you up on LinkedIn, Google you, peek at your Facebook page, check out your Twitter posts and browse through your Instagram pictures––all in an effort to develop a little advance intel and advantage prior to the meeting. I’ll probably enter your name into Spokeo for some additional color. In the process, I will form an opinion about you and if I am wrong, you’ll have to work extra hard to recover! What type of online first impression do you think you make?

Are you confident about your online persona and personal visibility efforts? Snap judgments and first impressions are happening online every minute of the day. Like it or not, people are looking at you and for you––don’t be a victim!

Cattle Have It Easy When It Comes To Branding! (tommccollum.me)
If you’re a loser online…you’re just a loser (successfulworkplace.com)
What is Your Public Persona? Personality types of the new generation (thenewsilentgeneration.wordpress.com)

Cattle Have It Easy When It Comes To Branding!

What if someone else decided on your behalf what brand you should wear? And what if you had no choice in being identified as part of a particular herd?

And what if your sphere of influence was a relatively small area where you spent your days and nights and maybe a contiguous field or two in case you decided to stray for a evening or two (read: work, home and play)? Imagine a few people on the ponderosa getting together one day and searing an indelible mark onto your rear end and voila!––you have your own not-so-unique personal brand and you’re stuck with it! No thinking, no scheming and no effort required on your part––a passive branding victim as it were. Actually, come to think of it, that almost perfectly describes what many people do when it comes to their own branding and visibility efforts. No thinking. No scheming. No effort. And you guessed it… it really shows! These are people that have decided not to take an active role in establishing and communicating their own brand––they simply allow those around them to silently develop their own opinions and thoughts as to brand and reputation attributes. And they allow those throughout their digital network to make their own interpretations based on various online activities or the lack of––the latter being potentially just as harmful. And contrary to what some believe, brand and reputation are not mutually exclusive. As a matter of fact, most people don’t take an active role in managing either, particularly in this age of ubiquitous social media and a personal digital footprint that expands by the day.

Don’t you think it’s time you grabbed this particular bull by the horns and took control of both your brand and visibility? Just being part of the herd doesn’t cut it any more. You have a personal megaphone (I could have said bullhorn) at your fingertips whether it’s LinkedIn, Facebook, WordPress, Brand Yourself, About Me, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr or a whole host of other platforms to promote your most important product… YOU.

How will others know if you don’t tell them? Are you willing to leave it up to interpretation? If you’re not in control of your digital footprint, do you think all the pieces will add up to a correct representation of who you actually are? Are you willing to take that chance? Like it or not, search engine functionality brings world-wide visibility and opportunity-givers are combing the web looking for people just like you. Your friends, co-workers and neighbors are looking too. Separate yourself from the herd and stand out if you want to be considered… because people are looking and you will be found. It might be a social opportunity, a new job offer, a promotion, a board seat consideration, a consulting role or any number of other life opportunities. With intimacy (person-to-person) giving way to technology, more and more discovery is taking place online and your reach and visibility is greater than ever! Are you positioned to take advantage of this powerful new medium?

Don’t be a cow.

Out of Sight – Out of Mind! (tommccollum.wordpress.com)
Four Tips for a Powerful LinkedIn Profile (everydayfamily.com)
The Digital You (digitalageofmarketing.com)
Personal Branding & Shakespeare – What Could They Possibly Have in Common? (tommccollum.me)
Advanced Personal Branding 101 – Are You in Control? (tommccollum.me)

Are You a Well Kept Secret?

You’re a real talent with significant skills. You’re a good decision maker, ethical and of high character. You’re the teammate everyone wants with a work ethic second-to-none. You’re creative, insightful, articulate and pretty darn good with the written word. Maybe you even have the “it” factor that bosses and boards look for. However, outside of your immediate circle, no one really knows much about you. Your parents taught you that humility was an important trait and you believed them, and rightfully so. You are, in fact, too humble to self-promote. As it turns out, you may be a well kept secret…

O.K., seriously, do you think those closest to you (much less your expanding network of colleagues) really know just how good you are? Do they know how much you care? How hard you work? Do they know why you shouldn’t be considered part of the vast sea-of-sameness that includes the run-of-the-mill crowd? You probably don’t want to waltz around proclaiming just “how good you are” at the top of your lungs, however, you can and should put certain tools to work on your behalf. Tools like LinkedIn, Brand Yourself, About Me and a myriad of others that promote your visibility and competency without you having to look like an arrogant self promoter. Use these tools to tell your story around the clock and anytime someone decides they want to learn a bit more about you, you’ve got a valuable utility working on your behalf––even when you’re not paying attention. And these tools are capable of telling your story very well, particularly when they’re constructed properly. You never know when opportunity is going to come along and maximizing your visibility is both key and central to your discovery. You deserve it, right?

This is 2013 and technology has moved so quickly (and not slowing down) that it’s left many of us in it’s wake and thinking that we’d eventually get around to learning this or that. Are you one of them? At the sake of pointing out the obvious, if you give this technology train an inch it will take a quick foot and before you know it, you’ll be just like that “older” person you already know that just doesn’t get it. You know the one––poor thing. The point is, the tools and technology available to help you become more visible are worth the time and effort. Don’t get left behind.

You occupy the big corner office at Y.O.U. and there’s not a more qualified leader when it comes to promoting your number one product. Be self-aware and remember a cardinal rule: Your image is shaped by what you share. Engage, get visible and stop being such a secret… somebody’s probably looking for someone just like you!

Being Average Doesn’t Mean You Can’t Be Relevant – Just Ask The Cowboys! (tommccollum.me)
Secrets of the Job Hunt Invites Members to Use Social Media to Build Their Brand (prweb.com)
6 Steps to Social Marketing Success with LinkedIn (2communicateblog.wordpress.com)
10 benefits of_a_linked_in_profile (slideshare.net)
Daily LinkedIn To-Do List: Advanced LinkedIn Tip (integratedalliances.com)
Top 3 Reasons To Get Visible NOW! (tommccollum.me)

Top 3 Reasons To Get Visible NOW!

The economy is recovering, digital utilities are improving and technology is dis-intermediating person-to-person intimacy, so you better have an online presence with a virtual representation of yourself or you’re carrying the equivalent of the old brick phone in a sleek iPhone world. Go ahead with that particular philosophy and let’s see where it gets you––just say’n. Visibility is key and central for your professional well-being and it’s easier than you might think! Why do it, you ask?

Reason # 1 – DISCOVERABILITY

There are so many connectivity platforms that you have no excuse. Whether it’s LinkedIn or a whole host of others you must rise above the sea-of-sameness and make yourself visible. Quit hiding in plain sight for God’s sake––intentional or otherwise. At least get your head above the fray by fine-tuning your personal profile (social resume), focusing on a couple of key words and phrases and getting a decent photograph of yourself… seriously! Don’t waste your professional visibility efforts on Facebook (neighborhood cocktail party equivalent), engage with LinkedIn, Brand Yourself, About Me, or Qnary, just to name a few of the more popular platforms. Get off the proverbial couch and put yourself out there!

Reason # 2 – OPPORTUNITY

People are looking. Opportunities abound––particularly in this recovering economy. Between social media and crazy-good search engine functionality there are ubiquitous queries taking place and whether its employment, social or advisory… there’s plenty of opportunities. Are your positioned? Passive online recruiting for all of the above is running rampant and I suspect you wouldn’t mind getting blind-sided with a significant career upgrade, social invite, advisory fee or start-up invite… would you???

Reason # 3 – CREDIBILITY

In the absence of a robust online presence, people may wonder if you are incapable, uncaring or just hiding something? Right, wrong or indifferent, that’s how it gets interpreted. It doesn’t matter who you are or the quality of your background; you should have a significant online presence with a high quality virtual representation of yourself. People are looking and whether you’re a Harvard graduate, high school dropout or even if you matriculated at the pinnacle of colleges, Sam Houston State University, you have to tell your story if you want to reach beyond your immediate sphere-of-influence. You have talents, skills and specialities––things you do well, so tell your story! With the appropriate key words, phrases and descriptors of your skill-set and talents, you stand a significant chance of making the so-called short list and getting face-to-face with a decision maker where you can do what you do best and that’s represent your number one product…YOU.

Digital media is an indispensable platform and used responsibly (read: intelligently) it can exponentially magnify your visibility. In other words, it’s your personal megaphone––so use it! It can be your agent and publicist 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Put it to work for you on a full-time basis. A few hundred words can paint a perfect picture of who you are and be there on your behalf around-the-clock. Who couldn’t use that? Opportunity givers are combing the web––it’s just a more efficient way of discovery and they’re getting better and better at it. From the newest college grad to the Fortune 50 CEO, everyone has an online presence of some sort and as scary as it is: worldwide visibility. Just make sure yours isn’t the early Sunday morning version of yourself (yikes!).

Advanced Personal Branding 101 – Are You in Control? (tommccollum.wordpress.com)
Surely People Know Who I Am! (tommccollum.me)
So, You Think You Know Everything About LinkedIn? (business2community.com)
CEOs Avoiding Social Media Are Missing Out | Domo | Blog (domo.com)
How to Market Yourself Using Social Media and the Internet (business2community.com)
When’s the Best Time to Post on Facebook and Twitter? And Other Hot Topics. (blogs.constantcontact.com)
How To Become A Rockstar on LinkedIn (bloggersmakemoney.com)
5 Social Media Predictions for 2013 (blogs.constantcontact.com)
Finding Your Social Audience: A Treasure Map to Social Media Gold! (gremln.com)
Is your LinkedIn profile embarrassing? (shiftlist.net)

Surely People Know Who I Am!

In a couple of words… probably not! Don’t kid yourself. One of the more profound observations made by the well know TV host, Dr. Phil is the fact that people don’t think about you nearly as often as you might think! However, when it comes to personal visibility it’s not really about those that know you well enough that they might be prone to think about you. It’s about those that don’t know you at all or all that well.

It’s this group that you must learn to nurture and develop. It’s this group that can produce unexpected but extraordinary opportunities. Opportunities that you’re likely missing out on and you don’t even know it. The funny thing is, the opportunity givers don’t know they’re missing you anymore than you know what you’re missing. Let’s bridge that gap, huh?

You’ll get around to it, you say? You’ll start soon? You’ve been meaning to do it? Bullshit. Personal visibility campaigns are just like diets and exercise––we all dread getting started and we put it off as long as we can! And yes, it is a lot of work. And no, it won’t be as bad as you think in terms of getting started––it never is. And just like every diet and every exercise program, you’ll be glad you did and it will be worth it. And once you finally get started you’ll want to build and build and build––that’s a fact.

Face this fact: You’re on an inexorable path to a more and more comprehensive relationship with technology and it’s not so much a matter of IF you’ll adapt or not. It’s really a matter of how far behind you’ll be before you finally choose to get started. It can either be a proactive decision to get engaged now or you can wait until the decision gets made for you––the latter being the drag-along option. Don’t get left behind!

Before you know it, your profile and social resume will be complete and properly displayed on a number of connectivity platforms. With these platforms working together your visibility will be significantly enhanced, your name will be showing up on the first page of the various search engines and if you play your cards right––your name might just appear when someone googles your profession or principal skill set… that would be the pinnacle of personal branding and visibility! The visibility platforms at your disposal like LinkedIn, AboutMe and Brand Yourself are significant and very effective at telling your story in a compelling and meaningful way. Establish a presence on all, perfect your social resume content and optimize your visibility––the sooner the better.

Be assured of one very compelling fact: There are important people out there looking for the right person to match with their current opportunities, so make sure they have the best odds and opportunity to find you––you’ll both be better for it.

It’s time to start scheming, don’t you think?

Personal Branding & Shakespeare – What Could They Possibly Have in Common? (tommccollum.wordpress.com)
Personal Branding Isn’t Important to You…Really? (tommccollum.wordpress.com)
Personal Branding? It Doesn’t Apply to Me…or Does It? (tommccollum.wordpress.com)
Establishing Your Personal Brand – A Stake in the Ground (tommccollum.me)

You Wouldn’t Go Out Looking Like That Would You?

We all have that old favorite pair of sweat pants and a wrinkled shirt that we often lounge around the house in, right? Particularly when we know that no one is around and the likelihood of being face-to-face with someone other than an immediate family member is a minimal risk. You know that look don’t you? No shower, maybe a little pillow-hair and looking pretty scary versus your normal “together” self. You’d never leave the house in that condition, would you? NFW!

In terms of image, there’s one thing we all have in common: When we have an important social event, a business meeting or client interaction we put our best foot forward. And on those really special occasions we might even get a fresh haircut and purchase something new to wear––all in an effort to make a quality impression and hedge our chances of success by carefully controlling the image that we portray to others. We all have different looks for different occasions but one thing’s for certain… if we know someone important is going to be looking at or evaluating us we go out of our way to be not only on our best behavior but we make ourselves look the best we possibly can––we naturally want to impress as it seems to be both common sense as well as an intelligent act of self-promotion.

So, what about your online presence? Your digital footprint? The seemingly ubiquitous presence you now have with all of your online profiles, activities and interactions. And those profiles are visible 24/7 to anyone in the world galaxy that decides to look. And yet many choose to have a crappy photo or no photograph at all, complete with background information that is sketchy and in many cases with grammar that could use some serious work. You’re on display to the world around-the-clock and you’re presenting yourself in the equivalent of that old pair of sweats and the wrinkled shirt. Really? We can probably all agree that a sketchy, incomplete and poorly worded profile won’t provoke any confidence with the person looking at your profile or social resume. People with these types of profiles should definitely rein in their expectations, as there’s little chance of an offer… of any kind.

Search engine functionality has improved to the point that anything and everyone can be found. If your profile is constructed properly, positioned strategically and coordinated with the proper keywords and phrases––you will be found and you might want to be looking the digital equivalent of professionally polished. Passive recruiting has always been popular among search firms but the transparency caused by today’s search functionality has given worldwide access to anyone interested in performing a search. That includes the larger search firms all the way down to the one person HR department. Maybe it’s a start-up looking for advisors or a board looking for expertise. Someone, somewhere is attempting to match people with opportunities… are you discoverable? Moreover, are you presentable?

Seriously, take a shower, comb your hair, put on your best outfit and make yourself presentable––meaningful people with meaningful opportunities are looking for people just like you and you’ll want to be the most presentable virtual version of yourself whenever they might choose to look your way.

Advanced Personal Branding 101 – Are You in Control? (tommccollum.wordpress.com)
Establishing Your Personal Brand – A Stake in the Ground (tommccollum.wordpress.com)
Out of Sight – Out of Mind! (tommccollum.wordpress.com)
Personal Branding Isn’t Important to You…Really? (tommccollum.wordpress.com)
Advanced Personal Branding 101 – Are You in Control? (tommccollum.me)
Digital footprint can damage job seekers (triblive.com)

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