The conversation usually goes a little something like this…

Me: “What type of job would be ideal for you?”
Job Seeker: “Well, I’ve doing X for the last five years, but I am really good at Y and I would love a job in Z.” (the list sometimes continues to builds to 5 to 10 types of jobs)
Me: “Well, what about X? You’ve been doing that for a while now. Why don’t you focus on that?”

Job Seeker: “Yes, I like doing X, but I don’t want to pigeonhole myself into just that.”

The reality is that if you say you are good at 10 different things, most people will translate that as you being okay or mediocre at 10 things and amazing or fantastic at nothing.

What happened here? The job seeker is trying to generic enough to fit many job descriptions. What really happens is that job seeker isn’t a great fit for any of those roles. This person is leaving it up to the hiring manager to see the one skill in the list of 10 he has provided that makes him the perfect person for the job. The problem is that the 9 other items in the bullet list dilute the one item that made him a great fit. Wouldn’t it be better to write 2 or 3 more phrases on this topic rather than moving onto the next thing?

So why do people feel the need to list so many different skills? They usually say that if they don’t cast a wide net, they won’t capture a job, any job that they would like. But if you don’t know what the ideal job for you is and you don’t pursue it, how do you know when it actually lands on your desk right in front of you? You don’t. And on the flip side, that hiring manager doesn’t know that you are the ideal person for that job.

So what should you do?
Spend lots of time soul searching and pondering your skills. What are the skills that make you unique? Take the time to write everything down and then categorize your experience and passions into broad categories. Next, narrow those categories down to between one and three that really sum up who you are as a professional.

What job utilizes those skills? FInd the job description for that role and then write your resume and cover letter with the hiring manager for that job in mind. Focus on the skills you possess and the experience you have that directly relates to that job. You need to be the best person for that job on paper in order to have a chance of getting an interview.

You are much more likely to land the job that you are the perfect fit rather than the one that matches 10% of your resume.

Reviewing your Facebook profile is especially important because many of us post so much personal information to the site. We are talking online with our friends and family and many times we aren’t considering the impact to our personal brands.

The new year provides the perfect opportunity to review the content that we have posted to Facebook over the last year and clean up any problems. It also is a chance to determine how we are going to use the site over the coming year.

Review Past Posts
Take a few minutes to look over the content that you have posted on your Facebook timeline. Does the content reflect your true personality and the personality you would like to project to the world?

Even if your Facebook profile is locked down so that only friends can see your posts, remember that your personal brand is in the mind of the person observing you. Your friend on Facebook today might be a future coworker, boss, subordinate, or client.

If someone is observing your Facebook profile, what are they seeing? Are you a personal who is generally positive or negative? Do you talk about work or your personal life? Do you and your friends share too many details about parties and bars that you are visiting?

Facebook is a personal social network and I strongly believe that it is a place where you should be yourself and share personal information about yourself with your close network of friends, but sharing on Facebook can be taken too far if you aren’t careful.

Don’t hesitate to remove posts that you don’t feel reflect your personality in a positive light. Untag yourself from unflattering photos. Now is the time to clean up.

Make a Plan for This Year
Now that you have given some thought to how you want to be perceived, you will want to make a plan for what you will be posting this year.

Do you want to be seen as negative? If not, commit to being more positive in your Facebook posts. Do your best not to complain about work, your family, and random drivers. An occasional rant isn’t the end of the world, but if you do it all the time, your friends see you as being a negative person.

You want to be seen as more professional? While Facebook is primarily a social network for person use, it is not unacceptable to share business news that interests you. Update your friends on what you are doing in school or in your job. Share interesting business articles or blog articles.

Your Privacy Settings
While Facebook has given us many tools for controlling how we share information on the service, it isn’t always easy to sort out. Even so, it is incredibly important that you know how your profile or timeline looks your friends and those who haven’t friend you.

If you are a job seeker employers are Googling your name and looking for you on Facebook. What are they seeing? On your timeline, you can see what they see by using the “View profile as…” option. If you leave the name blank, you are viewing your profile as someone who is not a friend. You can also type in a friend’s name to see how it looks to him.

Are you Facebook wall posts visible? What about your photos?

This is the first in a series of three blog posts with steps you should take immediately to make sure you are using social media effectively in developing your personal brand. Don’t let this period of self-reflection pass without critically evaluating how you are using technology to communicate. In this first post I detail the three area of your LinkedIn profile that you need to revisit.

Your Profile Photo
Is your LinkedIn profile picture a good reflection of who you are? Is the picture old or just plain bad?

If your photo isn’t good, make a resolution right now to have a new photo taken. Here are some more tips to make sure you have a great LinkedIn profile photo. I recommend that you have a professional take the picture. At a minimum have a family member, friend, or coworker operate the camera. Please don’t take a self picture unless you a trained photographer. They almost always look bad.

Your Profile Headline
The headline is the area below your name that typically includes your title and company name. It is one of the first places on your profile that viewers notice.

The first step is to make sure that the headline is accurate. But you can do better than this. Picking the words that you use in your headline strategically will help get you closer to the top of the search results and get you noticed more.

Summary
The summary is your introduction to the people visiting your profile. Is it still accurate? Do you even have anything filled in for it?

Take a few minutes and think about how you would introduce yourself to someone you meet at a party. What would you say about your background? What aspects of your job would you highlight? These details need to be in your summary.

What are SERPs?

A Search Engine Result Page (SERP) consists of a list of web pages that are returned to a user based on a specific keyword term/phrase query.  Each individual listing within a SERP page includes a Title Tag, Description Tag and a URL address to that particular location.  How does this relate to you?  As internet users are performing search queries based on a specific product or service related to your industry, they should be able to locate a link to a page on your website.  Mastering the power of organic visibility (known as SEO) takes some time and advanced knowledge of positioning.  Additionally, it’s important that you maintain content on your website relatively fresh in order to increase your chances of being found.

3 Strategies For Dominating the SERPs

The chances of getting to the top of Google overnight are most likely slim to none.  SERPs are driven by an algorithm specifically designed to return the most relevant results to the end user based on their unique search query.  In order to dominate them or at least have a shot at having some visibility you should exercise some of the following tactics.

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – a method of on-page and off-page optimization that goes back to the days of Alta Vista, AOL and Yahoo.  In order to ensure proper visibility in the SERPs each individual page of your domain needs to contain fresh and relevant content that pertains to a specific product or service.  Additional advanced methods of optimization consist of Meta Data tweaking, link building and social bookmarking to industry specific websites.

 


2. Social Media – a fairly new trend that has gained some serious momentum over the last few years.  Now it plays a significant role in the association of your domain within the SERPs.  One additional strategy for acquiring organic visibility consists of proactive engagement in social avenues such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and other popular bookmarking sites.  Content from each social platform has a direct connection to your brand and it’s important that your participation in each remains professional and courteous.

 


3. Search Engine Marketing (SEM or PPC) – the sponsored links section of the SERPs is reserved for advertisers that are marketing a product or service.  Typically this type of Pay-Per-Click marketing method can be used to drive targeted traffic back to your domain.  SEM platforms such as Google AdWords and Microsoft Advertising provide a robust solution to internet marketers for reach of their target audience.  The next time you perform a keyword query take a closer look at the sponsored links section located at the far right-hand side of the SERP.  If you’re seeking additional exposure for your brand, SEM may be a cost-effective alternative for generating targeted leads.

There are over 121 million searches performed on Google alone every day.  YouTube has positioned itself as the 2^nd largest search engine in the world therefore providing untapped potential for video marketing.  Twitter’s tweeps contribute towards a whopping 1.6 billion search queries a day.  All of these searches contribute to the untapped potential you can leverage by positioning your brand accordingly in the SERPs.

Photo Credit: Mashable & EyeTrackShop, Inc.

The results of the LinkedIn profile analysis are interesting, but not at all surprising. The study found that people’s eyes were drawn primarily to the headline of the profile. The headline, by default, is TITLE at COMPANY NAME.

The prominence of this field shows why it is so important that you update it to better reflect your professional experience. It isn’t sufficient for the headline to be Implementation Manager at AT&T (one of my former titles). I know what that title means, but do you? Probably not.

What would be a better profile headline? Implementation Manager | Unix Server Support | AIX | Websphere | Sun Solaris I know that is a bunch of technical mumbo jumbo, but those are terms and phrases that a recruiter would know and would help her understand what jobs would best fit me.

The eye tracking study showed that after the headline, people looked at the profile owner’s name and their picture next. This is why it is so important to have a photo. And it can’t be just any photo. It needs to be a high-quality, professional headshot.

The photo and headline is what is going to make the reader want to continue reading down the page. If you don’t make a good first impression (just like you would in-person), the reader is moving on and you won’t get a second look.

Do you think your profile is making a good first impression?

Do you consider speakers to be experts on their topics?

My answer might surprise you… It isn’t going to school for years or having decades of experience. Spending hours doing research in the library (or on the Internet as the case may be) isn’t even the answer, although it definitely can’t hurt.

So what is the best way to become an expert? Two words: Public Speaking.

Public Speaking

Speakers are considered to be experts almost instantly. If you can speak in front of an audience intelligently about a subject, your audience will believe you are an expert.

Now don’t get me wrong. You have to know a fair amount about your subject, but probably not as much as you think you do. So many people are paralyzed by fear at the thought of speaking in front of a group that anyone with a little knowledge to share who can deliver the material are given more credit than he likely deserved.

Have you ever been to a conference or presentation and seen a long line of people afterwards waiting to talk with with the speaker? Where else can you get that kind of attention? As I sit in Starbucks writing this blog, I know that I’m not going to going have a crowd waiting for me I click save.

The reality is that you are going to become knowledgeable as you prepare for your presentation. You’re not going to show up to a presentation unprepared, right? You’re likely going to put hours into researching your topic and understanding it so you can teach it to others. That is one of the best ways for you to learn. You read more careful and synthesize the information differently when you know you will need to turn around and explain it to someone else.

So where should you speak? Small business groups, chambers of commerce, and student organizations are always looking for speakers to address their groups. Are there opportunities to speak to your coworkers about a topic they need to know? You likely won’t be paid for any of your speaking engagements, but that isn’t the point. The purpose is to build your reputation as an expert. Ask around and be on alert for speaking opportunities.

Have you spoken recently? What is holding you back?

It is fascinating to think how social media and Twitter, in particular, has changed how small businesses can communicate with their customers.

10 years ago, a small business might have sent occasional emails to their clients. The company might also have had a basic website. What other options did they have though? They could have taken out an ad on local radio or TV, put an ad in the paper, send out direct mail, or buy a billboard. That was pretty much it.

This past Sunday night, I watched in wonder as a local bakery used social media to get rid of all their excess stock. They were going to be closed on Monday and were selling their extra quiches and baked goods at a discount. Within minutes, all of the items were spoken for. How cool is that?

This summer, the food truck craze hit St. Louis in full force. Here is a business model that couldn’t exist without social media. When we were kids, the bell of the ice cream truck sent all of the kids running. Now with a few tweets, all of the adults come running from their offices to buy pizza, tacos, and many other culinary delights.

I think sometimes that we in the social media and marketing communities get so consumed with how to “do” social media that we don’t step back and think about how far we have come in a just a few short years. And where we are and where we are headed are pretty cool.

How has social media changed how you run your business or how you consume products?

If you want to sweat to the oldies, you came to the right place.

Google Analytics, a popular website monitoring tool, gives a blog owner information about how many people visit her blog each day and how they found it. In addition to telling you someone found your site through a Google search, the tool also tells you what search terms were used to find the site.

One of the more entertaining/insightful aspects of these keywords is that some of them are truly unexpected. Someone might find your blog by searching for your name or the name of the blog, but he may also find it by typing an odd phrase or question into Google.

My recent example of this is when someone typed “Does Richard Simmons ever wear a suit?” When he did this search, he found a blog post I wrote recently as the #2 search result. Odd, right? I would never expect someone to find my blog by searching for a fitness guru’s fashion choices. But I did write a post about how important clothing choices can be to your personal brand and used Richard Simmons as an example.

This particular post ranked below perezhilton.com and above Richard Simmons’ Wikipedia page and TMZ. Competing with TMZ wasn’t the intent when I posted the blog, but it is a nice side effect. While my blog post might not give that user the information he wanted, it might still get him to look around my site and to possibly become a regular site visitor.

I have also noticed that my blog has been visited by multiple users who searched for variations of the question, “Where do Pixar employees live?” In that blog post about using LinkedIn to spy on companies, I used Pixar as an example. While I didn’t intend to rank for searches about Pixar, it has brought a few visitors to my site that wouldn’t have visited otherwise.

So what is the lesson here? Be sure to keep in mind that people may find your blog posts through means you never anticipated. Using celebrities and companies as examples in your blog are a great way to get extra search traffic. It’s difficult to predict which of these examples will attract traffic, but writing quality content and relating your blog topic to popular culture are sure fire ways to get the attention of Google users.

I had to put in a picture of my alma mater, Washington University in St. Louis

If they Google your name, what will they find? If they hunt you down on Facebook, will they see embarrassing pictures of your hanging out with your friends?

You wouldn’t want to have done all that work to get high test scores, secure awesome recommendations, and write kick-ass essays only to have something stupid online sink your chances. Here are 3 steps you need to take before clicking submit on that college application.

Google Yourself

You need to know what information is out on the Internet about you and the best way to find out is to do a vanity search (aka Googling yourself). If you have a common name and nothing comes up in the first few pages, try searching for your name and your city.

On the Google search results make sure that nothing negative appears in the first few pages. Ideally, some positive entry about you will appear in the first position and there will be multiple positive entries on the first page, but this isn’t always easy for someone that hasn’t started building her online reputation yet.

Review Your Facebook Privacy Settings

Many people think that their Facebook profile is much more private than it really is. You never want to post anything on Facebook that you wouldn’t want a future professor or employer to see. That being said, the reality is that many of us have personal pictures and other content already on our timeline.

Before applying to school, make sure that the admissions officer can’t see those pictures or your late night status updates. Facebook allows you to see how your profile looks to individual friends and to those you haven’t friended. Use this feature frequently to make sure you are putting an image out there that is serious and professional.

Create a LinkedIn Profile

If you have any professional experience or a significant amount of education under your belt, you need a LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn is how people in the professional and academic worlds connect. It isn’t meant to replace Facebook, Twitter, or any other social networks and you likely will use it less frequently than those networks.

Evenso, you need a LinkedIn profile. Your profile will quickly become one of the top search results for your name on Google, which is a very good thing. It helps you position yourself as a professional.

So… Are you applying to college? What are you doing to prepare?

But what other tools do we have at our disposal?

Your resume is your next best marketing tool. You can give your business card to everyone you meet, but you only give your resume out to those who are more interested in learning about you and what you can do.

Have you ever been to a career fair? As you are walking around, potential employers are giving you their cards so you can get in touch. But what do you do if you want more information? You probably walk over to their table and grab their one page marketing page or their brochure.

Well, your resume is your brochure. It isn’t a place for an employer to find out everything about you. They will have plenty of time to get to you know you during the interview process. The purpose of your resume is to sell yourself in one or two pages with the intent of getting an interview.

So what implications does this have? You need to stop thinking of your resume as brain dump of everything you can do. It isn’t your complete life story. It is your easy to read brochure that should pique the interest of the employer.

What should your next step be? Print out your resume and look at it with fresh eyes. Does it have so many words on it that the document assaults your eyes? Does your gaze automatically go to the important details on your resume? Does the employer need to read your resume and diagram the sentences to understand what they are reading or do you make it super simple for her?

Sometimes we get so obsessed with the details of the resume that we lose sight of what the document does. Take some time today to look at it with fresh eyes.