First Impression | Personal Visibility – The Power of You!

Archive for the ‘First Impression’ Category

Distinguish Yourself!

“A picture is worth a thousand words” refers to the notion that complex ideas can be conveyed with just a single still image. However, the notion doesn’t make reference to the conveyance being positive or negative, only complex. Complex because an image is able to convey what might otherwise require several pages of text. Having an effective around-the-clock virtual representation of yourself is critical in today’s online environment. Fortuitous, self serving and just plain smart––no matter your circumstances. Particularly if a person wants to reach beyond their intimate group of face-to-face interactions and leverage this powerful megaphone known as the internet. Here’s a fact: With the explosion of social media, people have an ever-increasing network of contacts. Intimacy is positively losing out to efficiency, both personally and professionally. Some people continue to struggle to balance their relationship with technology but we are all on an inexorable path with technology’s prowess––might as well put it to good use.

Its been said that words and pictures live in harmony. So, imagine a quality image combined with compelling words––all used as a powerful and effective representation of you; for you. Words and pictures that allow a reader to effectively negotiate their interpretations and judgment about who you are, particularly in the absence of opportunity for personal interactions. The internet allows you to reach well beyond your normal sphere-of-influence. It allows for around-the-clock, world-wide visibility. Put together properly, it allows you to separate yourself from the vast sea of online sameness in order to stand out and maximize your discoverability. The obvious goal being to create a positive influence on the reader and motivate them to want to know more.

With search engine functionality continuing to improve, you can and will be found, particularly if someone is searching specifics. However, its one thing to be found by a name search, its all together something different to be found by a skill search. And you definitely want to be identified in multiple searches. You want to show up on more than one list, particularly if someones looking for someone like you. Both offered and considered opportunities are key––its always nice to have choices and the more the better. Advantage you. Don’t give up on that! There are lots of opportunity-givers that might not yet realize you are the person they’re looking for––make it easy for them. Be the most dresssed-up digital version of yourself! Know this: it’s work-in-progress but you should make refinement a priority. It will be that important! Get ahead of it by recognizing the opportunity and making your online persona a priority. There’s no better use of technology than the promotion of your own well-being and livelihood.

It’s your story.

Make the words count.

Modesty May Be Overrated!

Are you one of those people that stand out in person but sort of blend into the vast sea of digital sameness that comprises the likes of LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter? With the explosion of social media and connections being more plentiful, does anyone outside of your immediate sphere of influence really know that much about you? What type of impression does your profile leave with a first time viewer? Do you deserve a second look?

The internet has become the new first impression and for many, it could be a life changing encounter! The intimacy of person-to-person contact is losing out to the efficacy of online interaction and the ability to add “context” to who you are is more of a challenge than ever and that’s not going to change. As a matter of fact, it’s going to get even more challenging and that’s why its critical that you take charge of your virtual persona, control your narrative and work diligently to add meaningful personal context for your growing network of friends, colleagues and those potentially important but superficial relationships. You can influence that all important first impression (or second or third), even if it is occurring online! And people are looking far more than you might think––before, during and after a meeting; or just because they’re nosy!

Other than those closest to you, can someone viewing your online social or professional profile for the first time tell at a glance what makes you special? You probably don’t want to waltz around proclaiming “how good you are” at the top of your lungs, but you can and should put certain tools to work on your behalf. Tools like LinkedIn, Brand Yourself, About Me and a myriad of other utilities that can promote your personal visibility and competencies without you having to look like an arrogant self promoter. You can use these tools to tell your story around the clock and have a valuable asset working on your behalf––even when you’re not paying attention. These platforms are capable of telling your story very well, particularly when they’re constructed properly. With search engine functionality being so efficient and passive recruiting running rampant, one never knows when an opportunity is going to develop! Maximizing your visibility is both key and central to your discoverability. How sticky is your profile?

There’s no one more qualified when it comes to promoting you, than you! Be self-aware and remember the cardinal rule: Your image is shaped by what you share or don’t share in many cases. Get visible, engage and stop being such a secret––somebody might be looking for someone just like you! Remember, in today’s world of virtual relationships, its important that you bridge the gap between your offline persona and your online image.

Don’t Be So Damned Modest––Put Yourself Out There!

Are You A Plus Or Minus?

There are some people that walk into a room and the energy shifts immediately––everybody feels it. It’s positive, uplifting and invigorating. People gravitate toward them and want to associate. Conversely, there are many among us that have the opposite impact: negative, off-putting or even draining! People move away at first chance or just avoid them all together.

Its like a sixth sense we have in that we can immediately feel energy being added or subtracted as we interact with others. The funny thing is, you can look at someone’s online profile, say a LinkedIn page, and the same arithmetic becomes evident––plus or minus. Based on the construction of the profile, the reader will jump to a biased conclusion by making a snap judgment––the vibe is either good or bad. If the conclusion (read: snap judgment) is negative, that profile gets little or no attention––the reader simply moves on! Look at it this way: If you’re in a book store, you probably wouldn’t pick up a book with a crappy looking cover. And if by chance you read the summary and the wording was disjunct and incomplete, you would undoubtedly put the book down and move on to the next. You certainly wouldn’t invest the time and energy to read that particular book. Its fundamental to selling any product––Advertising 101, right?

Nowadays we live in an environment enhanced by technology and one of the many benefits is the potential reach and visibility we each have in terms of expanding our sphere-of-influence. We are no longer relegated to the limitations of person-to-person interactions in that we have the distinct advantage of online influence through multiple utilities and social media platforms. Technology that allows each of us to to be visible to anyone, anywhere, around-the-clock. Whether its a social profile on a site like Facebook or your professional resume on a networking and employment site like LinkedIn, you are visible 24/7.

Make no mistake, opportunity givers and takers are looking at and for you online––more than you might think or want to believe. As a matter of fact, we all have an expanding virtual online presence and its imperative that we are the most dressed up version of ourselves. Having a high quality, well-constructed virtual representation of yourself can be fortuitous, self serving and just plain smart––no matter your circumstances. The internet is a powerful megaphone and your online profile is like a business card, a resume, a CV, a publicist and your agent, all rolled into one.

Do the math…

Be a plus.

Are You Discoverable?

The entire professional world is lurking online––searching, parsing and taking advantage of search engine efficiencies offered by the latest technologies to help them find the right person for a myriad of opportunities––social and professional. Face-to-face interaction has mostly been relegated to some later date when one passes the first impression gauntlet in the virtual world. If When someone sees how you portray yourself online, what kind of first impression will you make?

Will they be intrigued and want to learn more about you or just yawn and move on to the next person? In today’s world, passive recruiting is rampant and opportunities are plentiful as the economy continues to improve. Employers and recruiters have better tools than ever with which to search and discover and with a pond like LinkedIn to fish in; why would they need to look anywhere else? LinkedIn is a quarter of a billion strong and growing in terms of membership and in the absence of a little forethought and planning as to your profile content, you simply blend in to the vast sea of sameness. You won’t get that all important second look, much less an offer. In today’s free-agent marketplace, online recruiting of the passive kind is your friend… you can always say no.

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 so you might want to start 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?

Believe it or not, people are looking at your profile and googling your name far more than you might think. Just know this: Whether its a coworker, neighbor, recruiter, boss, or friend, you never know who’s looking so be prepared and take advantage of the tools available to you. These tools can and will work on your behalf around the clock––just like having your own agent and publicist. What could be better than that?

Ask yourself this simple question: Are you positioned squarely in the path of discovery? One thing is for certain in today’s world… being visible promotes opportunities.

Don’t miss out on yours!

Don’t Be Afraid of LinkedIn!

Don’t be afraid of LinkedIn… it just might just be the single greatest resource available to you in today’s digital world. A world where old-school face-to-face intimacy is giving way to the evolving preference for online interactions. Where else can tell your story and have it be visible to the entire world and not look like an arrogant self-promoter? What other platform allows you to communicate your professional experience, personal interests, attributes, academic accomplishments and even provides a place to display a quality photograph of yourself. What other utility indexes as well as any paid SEO with each of the various search engines? Yes, that would be LinkedIn.

With the evolution of LinkedIn, the “network effect” is clearly evidenced in that over 300 million people are part of this growing platform and damn near every major corporation has a line in the LinkedIn pond and sooner or later they will probably be looking for someone just like you! Most professionals are now relying on the personal visibility provided by a well-crafted LinkedIn profile and most recruiters are relying on the fact that most professionals know the benefits of having their qualifications on display for all to see. You don’t have to be looking for a new job as a basis for being on LinkedIn, however, we do live in a free-agency society and passive recruiting is rampant! And, there’s not many things more flattering than an unsolicited offer. Particularly one that substantially improves upon your current package and includes what might just be the career supercharge you need!

The most important part of the LinkedIn equation is YOU––your responsibility in terms of how you choose to display yourself. You can be the dressed up digital version of yourself and make every effort to nail the first impression or you can be half-assed in terms of background details with an arms-length selfie and some misguided hope that someone is willing to “buy” the product you’re representing. Think about it: If you were advertising or displaying a product that you intended to sell, you would make absolutely certain you represented the product’s best attributes, advantages, benefits and any information necessary to differentiate and advantage your product in this vast and competitive marketplace. The photograph of your product would also show your product in its most favorable light (read: quality photograph of you). And, you certainly wouldn’t make it hard to find with a boring description that included an amateur snapshot––who would buy that? Yet, when you browse the LinkedIn profiles of friends and colleagues its amazing how many of them seem to have a complete disconnect with Marketing 101.

LinkedIn is the equivalent of a PR person and publicist all rolled into one. It’s like having billboards in all the right places to advertise and promote your favorite product: YOU! Whether it’s a friend or colleague, your next door neighbor, a recruiter, the person you’re about to meet with or the one you just finished meeting with, you can be discoverable twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week––front and center for all the world to see!

Advantage: YOU.

What The #%*! Are You Waiting For?

The entire professional world is lurking online––searching, parsing and taking advantage of search engine efficiencies offered by the latest technologies to help them find the right person for a myriad of opportunities––social and professional. Face-to-face interaction has mostly been relegated to some later date when one passes the first impression gauntlet in the virtual world. If When someone sees how you portray yourself online, what kind of first impression will you make?

Will they be intrigued and want to learn more about you or just yawn and move on to the next person? In today’s world, passive recruiting is rampant and opportunities are plentiful as the economy continues to improve. Employers and recruiters have better tools than ever with which to search and discover and with a pond like LinkedIn to fish in; why would they need to look anywhere else? LinkedIn is a quarter of a billion strong and growing in terms of membership and in the absence of a little forethought and planning as to your profile content, you simply blend in to the vast sea of sameness. You won’t get that all important second look, much less an offer. In today’s free-agent marketplace, online recruiting of the passive kind is your friend… you can always say no.

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 so you might want to start 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?

Ask yourself a simple question: Are you positioned squarely in the path of discovery? One thing is for certain in today’s world… being visible promotes opportunities.

Don’t miss out on yours!

Press Play–Not Pause

In today’s digital world you can’t afford to pause or you’ll get left out, left off or left behind. Having an around-the-clock virtual representation of yourself can be fortuitous, self serving and just plain smart––no matter your circumstances. Maybe you’re gainfully employed and not looking to change. Maybe you don’t think you have a story to tell. Maybe it’s something you’ve been meaning to get to. Or maybe you think you’re beyond needing this whole social media thing (yes, there are those). The digital train is moving quickly and the sooner you get on board and establish a meaningful virtual presence, the better off you’ll be in terms of meeting the requirements of a rapidly evolving new age preference for relationship management.

Whether you’re a college student, new in the workplace, a seasoned executive, a stay-at-home-mom, a community leader or a small business owner, your objective is simple: Bridge the gap between your online presence and your offline persona. Tell your story and tell it well. It should be complete and unpretentious but a comprehensive overview of your background, skills and attributes. There are a whole host of platforms to tell your story, however, the easiest and most effective utility would probably be LinkedIn. It’s well designed and guides you through an organized display of your background, attributes and credentials and allows for easy edit work as you continue to fine tune one of your most important presentations: YOU. LinkedIn not only indexes well with the various search engines and elevates your discoverability, it’s also the pond where all of the major recruiters are fishing. Passive recruiting is rampant and looking your virtual best is both sensible and prudent.

Take your time to do it right and make sure you are the dressed up version of yourself, including a quality (preferably professional) photograph. In other words, be the version of yourself that people see in meetings and other professional and social gatherings. You’ll be on display to the world, so avoid presenting yourself in the equivalent of that old pair of sweats and the wrinkled shirt––save that look for when you’re home alone!

Make no mistake, people are looking at and for you online––more than you might think or want to believe. As a matter of fact, we all have an expanding virtual network of friends and associates and as our tribes grow, person-to-person contact gets less intimate and more difficult. The efficiency of online interactions are becoming more and more of a reality in this digital age and frankly, online interactions are becoming so efficient that they are preferred by many and quickly becoming the norm. Be in charge of your personal narrative. The internet is a powerful megaphone and your virtual presence is a phone book, a business card, a resume, a CV, a publicist and your agent, all rolled into one. It represents you on a 24/7 basis and is available to anyone, anywhere in the world. Maybe it’s a old friend checking up on you, a nosy neighbor, a competitor, a business associate, the person you’re meeting with next, a recruiter, a committee member or a whole host of other opportunity givers… and takers.

Press Play.

Tell your own story or leave it to my imagination.

Don’t Be That Person!

In today’s world where visibility and opportunity go hand-in-hand, not having a robust virtual presence is the equivalent of an unlisted phone number. Akin to someone that doesn’t want to be found, seen, evaluated or a part of anyone’s pre-meeting reconnaissance. It might also mean that a person’s embarrassed or possibly even afraid of putting their story out there digitally for the entire world to examine. In some cases it might even be an arrogant proclamation: “I know who I am and I don’t care what anybody thinks.” Or, “I already have a job and I don’t need to be seen or discovered by anyone.” Maybe its the CEO or leader that see themselves above this ubiquitous “social media” phenomenon. Yes, a few of those remain holdouts––see previous three sentences.

The best attitude is simply this: Distinguish yourself, even if no one is looking! The truth is, the personal and business relationship landscape is changing rapidly and the way we interact with others is making a profound evolution. Person-to-person intimacy and contact continues to give way to the efficiency of online relationships and interactions. Virtual networks are expanding our reach, availability and efficacy and with a little time and effort, we are able to promote our personal marquees around-the-clock with effective placement, high visibility indexes––tagged and key worded for maximum discoverability, all without looking like arrogant self-promoters.

For most professionals, LinkedIn likely suffices and is probably the most effective platform for personal visibility purposes. LinkedIn has a very convenient format for telling one’s story and indexes extremely well in terms of overall discoverability. It’s never too early to start and frankly, college students should be developing their LinkedIn profiles as early as their freshman year. Know this: Profiles are a work-in-progress and never really finished––they take time and effort, particularly if you want to be the dressed up digital version of yourself. In this snap-judgment-world we live in and considering the internet IS the new first impression, you probably won’t get many second chances. Snap judgments you say? Let’s be honest, we’ve all made plenty and plenty have been made about us––that’s just the way it is. Are you as confident about your online persona and personal visibility efforts as you could be?

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! Your ability to add “context” to who you are is getting less difficult but that’s not to say it’s easy, particularly the longer you wait to get started. Take charge of your online persona sooner than later––the visibility has a payoff.

If someone is unable to find you online, they might just think you’re stuck in the past, technologically inept or just don’t care and nowadays, none of those reflect well on you. Your goal should be simple––an online image that matches your offline persona. Snap judgments and first impressions are happening every minute of the day and like it or not, people are looking for you and at you online far more often than you might think––don’t be a victim of shifting relational preferences!

Distinguish yourself––people are looking.

I’ve Seen You Online & You Look Nothing Like Yourself

Its true. I’ve looked at most of your online profiles and you appear to be nothing like yourself in person. The pictures you’re using aren’t very flattering––you’re much more attractive in person! And the background and accomplishments you’ve listed make modest look a bit egocentric. If I didn’t know better I’d think you were making a concerted effort to be as unimpressive as possible. In the for-what-its-worth category, I’m afraid an opportunity giver wouldn’t give you a second look. You can only hope that the people looking at you online know your attributes better than your profile would suggest. Guess what? Fat chance––casual relationships as well as complete strangers are looking and evaluating and some may have an offer you wouldn’t want to miss out on… at least not on purpose! In today’s world of virtual relationships, you can’t afford to be modest. If you don’t promote you, who will?

Person-to-person contact continues to give way to the efficiency of online interactions and it’s become very simple, if not preferred, to access profiles on sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Qnary, Brand Yourself, About Me or a host of other platforms to learn more about a person. Frankly, with search engine functionality being what it is, you will be found and the question is this: Will your profile merit a second look? Whether it’s a passive recruiting effort, a social opportunity or someone simply checking you out prior to or after a meeting, the digital version of yourself might just be the first and only chance you have to make that important first impression. It doesn’t matter if you occupy the corner office or you’re a stay-at-home-mom, people are looking––you can count on that! Maybe it’s a neighbor, a supervisor, the HR department, a recruiter, the person you’re meeting with next, the person you just met with or a start-up parsing through profiles for a particular expertise.

Unfortunately, many people stand out in person but simply blend in online. Here’s the challenge: Can you bridge the gap between your offline persona and your online profile? Can you properly portray the dressed-up digital version of yourself? You have an expanding virtual network of online relationships and if you don’t make your profile(s) a bit stickier, you will continue to be part of that vast sea of sameness––both anonymous and irrelevant in the online sense. In today’s digital world and just a small step beyond your immediate person-to-person sphere of influence, visibility and opportunity go hand in hand.

Don’t be unimpressive––it doesn’t look good on you.

Digital Exhaust––What Kind of Trail Are You Leaving?

Is your online persona an authentic representation of you? Have you taken any liberties in the description of your attributes, characteristics, skills or experiences? Is there any fudge whatsoever in a past title or scholastic achievement? Would someone recognize you from your current profile picture? In today’s digital environment, any and all representations are likely part of your permanent online record––whether you want it to be or not.

Person-to-person relationships are one thing in terms of familiarity, however, with the expansion of virtual networks across a myriad of social and professional networking sites and no validation of any kind taking place by the very platforms where our personal information is being posted, a real temptation exists for some to exaggerate and misrepresent their qualifications and backgrounds. Whether it’s an online profile or a professional resume, we are all playing by the so-called honor system. However, as tempting as a little “spin” might be, one should understand that there’s an increasing likelihood that a digital prevarication will be discovered––it’s probably just a matter of time and the consequences could be costly.

“Everybody has the capacity to be dishonest, and almost everybody cheats”—but “just by a little.” That’s according to the behavioral economist Dan Ariely, the author of The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone—Especially Ourselves. In addition, a professor from Cornell, Jeff Hancock, has done substantial research on the dynamics of dishonesty and concluded that at least one in 10 text messages involves a lie of some sort. In a recent survey done by Consumer Reports, one in four people admitted to falsifying information on Facebook. According to another study of online daters, over 80 percent exaggerated attributes on their personal profiles. Hancock says, “When people are spatially distant from the people we’re interacting with, they have an easier time lying.” Put differently, that might suggest that utilities like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, among others, are great “truth-stretching” platforms. And, if you’ve spent any time on these sites, you’ve likely experienced it firsthand with someone you know well enough to know that a misrepresentation is being made.

Many of us were taught early in our professional lives that anything we put in writing is discoverable and that was true even prior to email, Facebook and Twitter. Today, all communications leave a trail, particularly in this digital age where cloud storage, screen shots, cell phones, email chains, digital archives or a multitude of other storage and capture methods are recording the details of everything we do online––can you say Big Brother?

Based on both the efficiency and increasing personal preference for online interactions, more and more encounters are taking place digitally and that means it’s more important than ever that personal representations are not only accurate, but hold up to a closer-than-cursory look, particularly with the convenience and anonymity of 24/7 access to your various social media sites by anyone choosing to look. You have a burgeoning permanent record and you should make certain it’s accurate––there’s no going back.

Remember, you never know who’s looking.

Or, who’s keeping score.

Personal Visibility – The Power of You!

Recent Posts

Archives

Categories

Blogs I Follow

Tom McCollum

Tom McCollum

Meta

Follow Blog via Email

Archive for the ‘First Impression’ Category

Recent Posts

Archives

Categories

Blogs I Follow

Tom McCollum

Meta

Follow Blog via Email

Archive for the ‘First Impression’ Category

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Related articles

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: