Market Yourself Smarter

So... tell me about yourself

2010-04-05T12:52:00.001-07:00

by Laurinda Shaver

Don't you love that question at an interview, networking events or even parties?

"So.. tell me about yourself?"

What is your answer? Do you have an answer?

Many people call it the elevator speech. That 30 - 60 statement that is suppose to perfectly position you in someone's mind. Its vitally important to get it right, but yet so many people get it wrong. Here are some tips to think about:

1. Its actually not about you.
Well sorta. Its about how YOU can help the other person. Do you give the other person a clear idea of WHAT you can do to help them?

2. Listen.
You can learn a lot be simply letting the other person talk. How do you know if you can help them if you don't know what they need?

2. Don't give me 3 million details.
People generally don't remember details given verbally. (unless it is a really AWESOME detail) The point is to leave an idea or impression on a person's mind. When they walk away from you, how do they position you?

"That's the guy who can help me with my website."
"That's the girl who builds communities online."
"That's the guy who actually knows what SEO means and how it can increase my sales."

3. Paint a picture.
There is nothing like storytelling. If you describe a scenario, give an example, talk to a situation people follow along quite well.

4. Smile.
Don't take yourself too seriously. Meeting new people is just like a date. I check you out, you check me out and lets see if there is something in common. No person is above the other.

5. Be nice.
Obvious? Maybe. But think about the times when you have met someone and they were checking out the rest of the room instead of listening to you. Or they didn't have basic manners to say "goodbye, it was nice to meet you." Be courteous.

Do you have anything to add? Got a story about a good and/or bad initial meeting? Please share!

Bringing 'HUMAN' back in a lonely, social online world

2010-01-30T11:00:00.000-08:00

Starving to connect with like minded people in like communities is without a doubt the reason for the success of social media platforms today. But how meaningful are those connections really? How many times have you been left wanting to see the real person behind the elusive twitter profile and hear what they have to say?

The more time deprived we are, the more hastened and short form our messages become. Heck, we conform to 140 characters or less, don’t we? With sms and online communication formats we are losing the human touch and the honesty and connection that comes with it. That’s where video is taking on a whole new meaning in the social media world. Taking your posts to video and sharing your thinking and ideas in video format brings personality back in a way that can’ t be achieved with text, pictures and links.

But the case for video goes beyond the human connection. The advancements in technology make it easy for us to share and view video and the numbers speak for themselves.
According to “The Global Web Index,” from Trendstream, with research conducted by Lightspeed Research, early this year 72% of US Internet users watched video clips monthly—making video bigger than blogging or social networking. And, by 2013 over 670 million people will be using mobile social media.

Despite what some may think, this video use is not reserved for the young savvy internet user. According to Lightspeed Research study conducted in May 2009, the distribution of video use is fairly even across the generations.

Imagine video used for recruiting? Talk about a game changing tool! If you are a job seeker, you should consider that executive recruiters are using social media to find you which means you need to manage the content online that represents you.

· 43% of job recruiters eliminate candidates due to negative content found online.

· 77% of executive recruiters use search engines to research job applicants.

· 83% of job recruiters use search engines to research candidates.

Source: http://www.reputationdefender.com/

I think it is fair to say that video makes sense for any professional networking use. Just think, when you Google yourself or your company, do you really want to leave it up to Google to define you? What if Google gets it wrong or out of order? What if Google says something about your brand that isn’t consistent with what you want people to see (or at least see first!).

For those of you who take their online reputation seriously, you need to think about video as a way to manage your online reputation by taking the time to package your message in a professional video that lives in your profile online. You don’t want to take chances with your brand.

It doesn’t need to be costly or time consuming and it doesn’t need to be picture perfect but it does need to be authentic to you and your voice. There is a business case for video. What is yours?

Why do I need video in my online profile?

2010-01-12T20:16:00.000-08:00

by Laurinda Shaver

Why do you need an online profile at all? Let alone adding video to it.

Basically, if you want to control and take advantage of the online space as a way to promote yourself, your business, and/or your cause. You need to have an online profile.
1. By uploading information yourself, you are controlling what the online space says about you instead of having others do it for you.
2. By monitoring what is said about you, you are able to jump in and address issues head on before they escalate.
3. Your competitors are there. If you want to compete, you need to be there too.

So, your sold. You have decided use specific online tools. You have uploaded, monitored and watching your competitors. What next?

Well... video.

There is a fundamental difference between reading about you and watching you.
Text and pictures are limited in their ability to communicate because they are not the full communication package. Its missing one major thing. Body language.

Video is the next best thing to meeting someone in person. The experience of watching someone talk directly to you gives you the opportunity to judge their message appropriately.
Are they authentic?
Are they someone I'm interesting in knowing?
Do I buy what they are saying?

If you have something important to say, to promote, to advocate about. Why miss an opportunity to really draw attention.

Get your videoBIO on LinkedIn

2010-01-04T03:35:00.001-08:00

LinkedIn now has the capability to embed your videoBIO right into your profile.

Andy at Sirona Says has a blog post that explains exactly how to do this.

An example of this is by Paul Copcutt at Square Peg Solutions in his LinkedIn profile.

I would love to see yours! Let us know if you posted any video in the comments.

Meet me. Trust me. Hire me.

2009-12-21T01:37:00.000-08:00

Remember the last time you did something crazy to get in the door? We’ve all heard the stories--- some highly creative like designing a jigsaw puzzle from scratch with the one ‘missing piece’ being you. While mildly amusing and sometimes eye catching, these gimmicks rarely work. Employers are time deprived and desperately looking for the ideal candidate. If you run down the list of attributes employers are looking for in their new hires today, many of them stem back to some of the basics in ‘fit 101’. Will this person fit into our culture? Will this person work well in a team environment? Does this person have the initiative, energy and enthusiasm to add value in the role? Is this person a good communicator? A creative thinker?

How many of these items can be communicated effectively in a resume? VERY FEW.

People hire people, not resumes. Where the rubber hits the road from the employers view is, do I trust this person? Do I feel they understand what we are looking for and have taken the initiative to communicate this to us? Is this a stand-out candidate? What if you could bring this advantage out earlier in the hiring process—before the interview? What if you could give yourself that leading chance to get in front of that hiring manager? Would you do it?

Believing in yourself and conveying that authentically and relevantly goes a long way with potential employers. It is tough to fake enthusiasm and video tells a full story and goes a long way in creating trust much earlier in the hiring cycle. Innovative and committed job seekers are investing in videoBIO’s to improve their chances of getting noticed and standing out of the crowd at the earliest stages of resume review. Your personal brand is something that is uniquely yours and by some statistics can represent over 75% of the ultimate hiring decision. In this market climate where employers are paralyzed by perfection, the skills and experience outlined in the resume are expected, so do something unexpected that helps to create trust and familiarity early on.

How dumb is your resume?

2009-12-18T12:28:00.000-08:00

by Laurinda Shaver

Here is the challenge.

You are a job seeker looking for work in various disciplines. You have an extensive education and background in creative design, but finding that your "creative" resume puts you in the overqualified category for retail, food or general work. So you dumb down your resume.
Its easy. Take out some of your education, work experience and create various versions.
1) creative
2) retail
3) food
4) general
And..then send the correct resume for the correct job posting.

But, how do you reflect this online? If someone Googles you, how do you get them to see only specific information about you? You can't. What lives online can't be filtered for a specific user. What is online is there for the viewing. You can't control who sees what.

What can you control?
And this might seem obvious, but what you put online.

What is most important of the 4 versions? The creative one. The others help pay the bills until your Creative Work does. So, you focus on that. Make your online presence support your creative endeavours and showcase your talents. Make sure your presence is clean and focused.

So, your Food/Retail/General resume gets you in the door. Manager X Googles you and sees your creative side. Doesn't find any digital dirt about you. There are no flags. You get the interview.

Simple as that.

Do you agree? Would love to hear your thoughts.

What's your digital dirt?

2009-12-16T10:12:00.000-08:00

by Laurinda Shaver

William Arruda, founder of Reach Personal Branding, has a great Personal Branding prediction list for 2010.

Item #9: Digital Dirt Elimination caught my attention. I spend alot of time talking with clients about how videoBIO can help increase their visibility on Google, but spend no time thinking about how to remove "dirt" from the Google Search results.

You know what I'm talking about. That ugly picture from a party or that association that you no longer want to be associated with. Pretty much anything that will tarnish your online reputation.

So, who can help you eliminate your Digital Dirt?

William talks about 3 companies:
1. ReputationDefender
2. Defend My Name
3. Internet Reputation Management

Lets review their offerings:
1. ReputationDefender
They are a global online reputation management and privacy company. They focus on 3 goals. To SEARCH your online information, to provide DESTROY assistance, and to deliver CONTROL on how others are able to perceive you online. This is done through their 4 products:
1. MyReputation
2. MyChild
3. MyPrivacy
4. MyEdge
Essentially you pay a monthly fee for reports and additional fees if you want to "DESTROY" online information. The Privacy option allows you to remove your personal information from search databases. They go a step further and will promote you at your chosen online locations to increase your search results rank. A very comprehensive offering.

2. Defend My Name
I had to dig around a bit to figure out what services they offer. I believe that at their core, they are a SEO (Search Engine Optimization) company. They build content to promote you using SEO techniques to drive up your ranking. There is no listed price, so you will have to get a quote.

3. Internet Reputation Management
This company is solely focused on identifying and evaluating all your negative search results. From there, they create a plan on how to move the negative notices and to replace them with positive ones. The site is simple and straightforward. There are no prices listed, but there is a Contact Us form to fill out if you want more information.

Have you used any of these or other similar companies? I would love to hear about your experiences.

At the end of the day, being careful and monitoring your online presence is extremely important. Therefore if you do stumble across some digital dirt, you can catch it quick and deal with the issue before it explodes.

The most overlooked marketing tool.... your e-mail signature

2009-11-09T08:06:00.001-08:00

by Laurinda Shaver

How many e-mails do you send out in a day? 10, 20, 150? Each and every e-mail is an opportunity to market yourself through your e-mail signature.

What is an e-mail signature?

It is the standard lines of text that your e-mail program can automatically add at the end of every e-mail so that your recipient knows how to reach you and to find out more about you.

Here is my e-mail signature. It can state:

your name
your title/company
your address
your contact number
your website
all your social media touchpoints.

If each and every time someone is reading your e-mail, imagine the opportunity for them to learn more about you.

So, how do I set up my e-mail signature?

For MS Outlook:
1. Click on TOOLS on the top line navigation within Outlook
2. Select options
3. Go to mail format tab
4. Click on SIGNATURE button
5. Add link to your email signature and save (make sure you have added it as a hyperlink (blue) and not a text link so it will be linkable directly from your email signature)

For iMail on Macs:
1. Click on MAIL on the top menu.
2. Select PREFERENCES from the drop down menu.
3. Select SIGNATURES from the top tabs.
4. Click on the + button to add a signature.

For other e-mail programs, search for "E-mail signature" in the help function.

Don't miss out on a simple, but very effective way in marketing yourself smarter.

Ok, I'm on facebook, linkedin, twitter, foursquare, youtube...

2009-11-06T10:35:00.000-08:00

by Laurinda Shaver

What is your social media strategy? Quantity or Quality?

So many people are in a rush to get there name out there. Have you done this? Sign up for every new service that appears. Play with it for a bit. Maybe even figure out how it could be useful for your purpose or business. You want your name, your business, and your services to be in as many places as possible. Quantity is key. To be seen. Everywhere.

But then you find that you have signed up for 20 things. And each one demands time, attention and maybe even a strategy as to how you want to present yourself. You find that you don't have the time. So, you abandon one. Then another and before you know it, there are over 15 places online where your presence is incomplete. Now these places are not current and certainly not a good representation of you.

What is more important? To be seen everywhere OR to be seen in less places, but have quality content.

So lets weigh the options. If online branding is about building relationships, what is more valuable?
1) You meet someone. Find something of value. Exchange info. Then never follow up.
OR
2) You meet someone. Find something of value. Exchange info. Then return again and again to nurture the relationship and actually get the value.

Who do you want to be?

Know anyone who is doing it right? I would love to hear about it. Please share it in the comments.

Work and Love in the videoBIO Studio

2009-10-25T12:58:00.000-07:00

Motivatorman gets motivated to do two, back-to-back videoBIO’s
Can you imagine coming into a videoBIO studio prepared to shoot not one video but two! Well, this was the case for the motivated Emmanuel Lopez, expert Motivational Specialist, otherwise known as his work and online dating alias.... ‘Motivatorman’.

Emmanuel was our first ever LavaLife-Professional ‘back-to-back’ client and was he ever terrific. We were so impressed with Emmanuel that we asked him to share his experience with us about what it was like to go from pitching the ideal client to the ideal soul mate!

1. How would you describe your videoBIO experience?

My videoBIO experience was both fun and eye-opening for me in how to tell a clear, compelling story. The whole process from writing the script and getting "coached" by Laurinda (my videoBIO producer) before and during the shoot was very enjoyable. I loved how I was always reminded that "I was always in control" of the process. I never felt rushed.

2. What did it bring up for you? What did you learn about yourself?

The process helped me define what I really wanted to say to the world both in my personal and professional worlds. When it came down to doing the video shoot I learned that there was definitely a difference when I spoke from my heart rather than my head. Laurinda helped guide me to speak authentically from my heart in both videos.

3. As our first client shooting a personal and professional videoBIO back to back, what was it like to shift gears and move from one to the other?

At first it was a challenge to keep my thoughts separate although working on the two scripts helped in a big way. Then I just needed to focus on being myself and staying relaxed for each shoot. Wearing a different set of clothes for each video definitely helped me to focus.

4. What common points did you find came together in your work and life story?

Common points that came together in my work and life story were how important expressing my passions were. Helping professionals find passion in their career or business is my purpose in life so I naturally have to be a living example of this at all times. The videoBIO experience helped me learn how to maintain a "heartfelt" energy in front of a camera.

To learn more about Motivatorman and his motivational services visit http://motivatorman.com/ or watch his videoBIO http://videobio.com/elopez

To meet Emmanuel, find him on http://www.lavalifeprime.com/ or watch his videoBIO here http://videobio.com/motivatorman

Do you wear your personal brand?

2009-10-11T15:45:00.000-07:00

If your personal brand at the office was defined by fashion, what would you wear?

Do you ever think twice about what you will wear to work. Have you ever found yourself wanting to put on something more expressive but decided against it for fear of coming across of as unprofessional or for being judged? Do the new laws for personal branding in the workplace extend to fashion?

In the corporate world, dress down Friday’s was the closest that we got to bending the rules, but we are now moving back into skirt suits and ties to round out our week. If we were all to express ourselves through our personal fashion, what would the workplace look like?

How would expressing yourself through fashion help or hurt you? Would you dawn a Mohawk, a temporary tattoo or put on a colour to break up the black for the first time? Would you appear more interesting, generally boring or a little too out there? Where do our professional boundaries live today? How can employees express themselves in the workplace and in social and professional media in a way that is appropriate and authentic, all at the same time?

I have often said that a professional networking event would be so much more seamless if we were able to wear a nametag which said our name, what we did and gave a hint on what we wanted to talk about. We all need a little help in cutting through the social niceties. Fashion Friday’s would be a type of professional lubrication so to speak.

So, let's hear it for Fashion Friday's! The latest personal brand expression.

Is your online brand distinct?

2009-09-19T06:39:00.000-07:00

Have you ever given any thought to what colour your brand is? I know, it may sound silly but it's amazing how little attention we put into ourselves.... our most important asset. New aggregator tools like http://www.addictomatic.com/ are having us look at our brands and online profile in a different light. Quantity of tweets, followers and the size of your linked in network are all great and important but what is the overall brand impression you are leaving people with and what are you getting out of the connections? Is your brand and online profile distinct and relevant? Is it consistent across professional networking platforms? Does it have personality and convey the right message? What is it that you want people to remember about you?

videoBIO brings these questions to the forefront as you ask yourself "What do I want to convey in three minutes or less on video?". Is your tone and manner fun and light or buttoned down and professional? What is your colour? Everyone has a message and an opportunity to build their brand. Take advantage of new tools that will allow you to express that the way it should be expressed. Don't leave it up for interpretation.

Our personal branding partner Reach delves into the attributes of your personal brand. For more on the colour of your brand watch William Arruda, CEO of Reach's video on 'is green the colour of your brand'...

That twitter follower hurt my feelings. :(

2009-09-02T08:39:00.000-07:00

Posted by Laurinda Shaver

My name is Laurinda and I'm a twitter-oholic. Yes, many people don't understand the point of twitter but I have found to be a wealth of timely information about what I care about. There are great people who post really useful links. It saves time when I just click on their link as opposed to go hunting for information on my own. Two of my personal branding favs are @williamarruda and @kirstendixson.

Although, I am finding more and more businesses on twitter that completely miss the point. Today, I got a business (that shall remain nameless) that followed me at @videoBIO. I do my best to send a quick note everytime just to say hi, thanxs and humanize the connection. This was their response:
"Your direct message was received but we do NOT read DMs for this account. If you do want to contact us via Twitter, use @$%^&*"

So, I went out of my way to make and effort and reach out to you in a tool that you are in and you tell me that my message doesn't count. Humph. You hurt my feelings. If you are going to participate, participate fully.

As you are managing your online presence, think about the way people reach out to you and what kind of message you are sending. Do you have any examples like this? I'd love to hear them.

Don't lie online.

2009-08-27T08:01:00.000-07:00

Posted by Laurinda Shaver

How genuine are you online? Have you ever changed facts slightly to meet your needs or embellished slightly? Its easy really. I mean, who would ever notice?

If I was placing bets, I would say someone would. Your personal brand online is an extension of you. And if you are attempting to build credibility and create and strengthen relationships, then I say honesty is the name of the game.

Microsoft learned that lesson this week. They "altered a photo on its website to change the race of one of the people shown in the picture." How does that make you feel towards microsoft?

And more importantly, if you lie, how would others feel about you?

NY Times has caught the video bug.

2009-08-25T06:56:00.000-07:00

Posted by Laurinda Shaver

I'm always on the look out for news about video on in the online space. The real challenge with video is that you need a great amount of bandwidth in order to receive and play video without any buffering and waiting times. But, as the technology improves, so does the ability to distribute and view video online.

The New York times has caught onto the proliferation of video. Yesterday they published "Your Career: Video Resumes Getting More Popular". Why? Because its an extra tool in your job searching kit that will allow you to stand out.

The key thing here, that they point out, is "Production quality is also important. A well-produced video can send the message that the applicant is both professional and on top of new technology, while something that looks like a home video can send the opposite message."

The consistent messaging here is that no matter what tool you use in your personal branding, if you want to stand out and be taken seriously, you and your tools, need to be professional.

A personal brand. You don't need to be famous to have one.

2009-08-16T06:38:00.000-07:00

A personal brand is often thought of as something reserved for people with a name that is recognizable. Not so. Personal brands transcend companies or entities. The tough part is defining what your personal brand is. Your personal brand is a culmination of your personal views on what you are passionate about, what you do well and what you want to communicate + how others describe you.

So, you could be a lawyer by day but have a blog and community of thousands following you on your nightime musings on Interior Design and The Punka Fan: Inspiring Southern Dining Rooms before the ceiling fan. How do you define yourself? By your daytime vocation or your true passion? Is our success and career defined by our education, credentials and skills or our everything else that we love to do outside of 9-5? Or, your fan base?

I have long struggled with the concept of wearing many hats, operating many entities and not knowing how to bring them all together. Executive Producer of an award winning web t.v. show http://www.defineyourselfblog.blogspot.com about women and aging, creator of http://www.videobio.com/, President of http://www.marketyourselfsmarter.com/ and an all round spokesperson for all things 'women in business', helping women to find their voice and power.

You probably don't know my name. And, my passions are many and varied. Do I have a personal brand?

What I've known for a long time now is that careers and businesses no longer fit into a box with an easy, one sentence description, or even website. Brands and ideas transcend business entities and are moving towards virtual properties.

Brands follow passion. Throw out the business school definition of brand building that we all learned. In today's digital world, brands are organic and ultimately defined by what we stand for. Our brands are defined by the people who we choose to marry and the bright people we surround ourselves with each and every day. So, let's ask them. Don't resist it. Sit with it and figure out what your personal brand looks like for you.

For a great place to start visit one of the world's top personal brand destinations http://www.reachcc.com/ to find a personal brand strategist near you.

Its all about YOU!

2009-08-10T14:19:00.000-07:00

Don't you love those e-mails from companies who are trying to sell you something and have NO IDEA who you are. Chris Brogan recently blogged about his love of Macs (even showed a pic of his latest love). But, an e-mail from Apple greatly disappointed him. It told him about "the joys of owning a Mac, the same joys that I’ve experienced for eight or nine years and counting.." Apple wanted to sell a Mac to Chris who already had one. The e-mail was impersonal, badly targeted and frustrating. Chris' message to Apple: "I want you to really care about me. I want you to remember me. That second one matters a lot. I want you to remember me, such that when I contact you at your touchpoints, you know how much I’ve done with you."

This got me thinking about our personal online networks. How well do you keep track of the people you meet? Prior to social media, we all used our address books. Taking notes about who we met at what conference and what they were about. With the introduction of social media, this is all trackable online. Meet someone? Just connect to their LinkedIn account, get their twitter addy and maybe even friend them on facebook.

But will these tools, its easy to just add them and forget. Its important to think about how you are going to use the tools to actually nurture your relationships. Are you actively communicating with your online community or are you simply collecting connections.

Failing which, you might fall into Apple's trap of having a connection, but not taking full advantage of it.

2009-08-07T06:38:00.000-07:00

Posted by: Laurinda Shaver

With the social media meltdown yesterday, I was lost.

It started with my Tweetie account being completely empty. No text. I asked around the videoBIO office if anyone was having Twitter issues. Check.
Then I went to Facebook. And (being a mac gal) I watched the loading circle button go around and around. "Facebook down too?" Check.

I was ok. I could deal with not being plugged into the world for a little bit. My need for personal expression could be tempered with other work at hand.
By mid day, I think I had the withdrawal shakes. What was happening to me?

I was missing that strong human need: feeling connected. We sometimes focus so much on the social networks themselves, we forget what the point is. Their purpose is to help build and maintain relationships with like-minded people. Belong to a tribe, a community. The big deal is not the social communities themselves, but the service that they provide. Like Josh Mernoff and Charlene Li said in their book "Groundswell", concentrate on the relationships, not the technology.

Are you using the technology to serve your need to build relationships? Do you have specific networking goals and are you working towards them? Or are you just playing with the technology (when its working)?

For example, sign up for LinkedIn and actively use the platform to increase your connections. It says alot when someone searches for you and your connections are 0 - 5. You would be better off not signing up at all if you are not committed to using the tool. You will be not be taken seriously.

Instead of you going to the info, have relevant and timely information come to you. Sign up for the Market Yourself Smarter's e-newsletter for online marketing tips. There is nothing to maintain and you are using a great tool to increase your knowledge.

Anyway, the outage is still ongoing so I picked up the phone. "Did you know twitter is down?... oh.. its back up?? Gotta go! Talk soon. Bye."

Congrats on your new job! Now what?

2009-08-06T18:37:00.000-07:00

Posted by Laurinda Shaver

Hypothetically lets say you’ve got a new job and you want to tell the world and update your online profile status. Where do you start? For the sake of argument, lets take me for example in my new role as Director of New Media and Production at an amazing company called videoBIO. How do you maximize this opportunity to raise your profile in the industry? Naturally I would start with LinkedIn as my professional online status lives there. But what are the other professional tools online that you can lever to build a consistent, professional image online?

1) Take a look at all the communities and networks you are registered with. How do you describe yourself? Are you professional, targeted and focused in one and personal, irreverent, and off-tone in another? What is the take away you want people to have on you? What do you want them to think about when they think of you? Remember, people usually only retain one or two things so you better make sure this first impression is the right one.

2) The most effective way to build that brand image is to be consistent. Use the same picture and an identical bio. That way, anyone reading it would get a clear idea of who you are no matter where they see you online.

3) Don’t hold back! If you don’t promote yourself and tell people what you are up to, who will? Use your communities’ status updates, walls, and other announcement tools to let people know about your change. If you don’t tell your community, how are they going to know? This will spark conversation, as people will respond in kind.

4) Use your twitter account to connect with people in your industry. Twitter can be frustrating at first (yes, I did swear at it more than once) but once you get the hang of it, it’s a real resource for timely information. Graeme Newell has a great post about How to Make Your Twitter Feed Worth a Damn.

5) Very importantly, get a videoBIO. I did. The feedback has been amazing. I am getting queries from people I have not heard from in a long time to professional associates who are very curious on how they can use this remarkable tool. It’s a great way to stand out in the cluttered online space and most importantly, get your unique perspective across in a dynamic, personal way.

What did I miss? How would you use this opportunity to raise your online profile?

As a side note, I’m thrilled to join the VideoBIO team. There is nothing like working on a remarkable product and working with you to create them! I thrive on your input. Contact me at Laurinda@videobio.com and on twitter @VideoBIO. Let’s talk.

Canada's high tech strategy...anyone? Up for grabs.

2009-08-01T08:08:00.000-07:00

In today's Globe and Mail, an article on Canada's high tech strategy. Who's advising? Who's contributing? Why is Stephen Harper absent? And, where's the trickle down effect of funding for high tech firms who are in the trenches, investing in Canada's innovation equity today... and contributing to employment.

Try as we might to keep all equity in Canada, high tech firms are forced to go south of the border to access capital for great ideas, innovation and seed capital for start ups. Why? In my mind there are two key contributing factors that keep Canada stagnant in its efforts to jumpstart its international profile back to where Canada used to stand on the Canadian stage as a leader and high tech innovator.

First, the funding model is geared towards rewarding companies who are cash flow positive. Yet it is the ones in the red who are in dire need of the capital to get their companies to the place where they can viably compete and have the chance to succeed. It is at this very first stage that small businesses need the capital but, banks don't have the risk tolerance and there is no small capital structure for venture capital co's who won't get out of bed for less than $10 million and 80% of your company. But what if you only need $1 M? Or less? While there have been recent efforts by some VC's to change this model like Marc Anderseen's recently launched VC fund and introduce funding as little as $50 K to get co's off the ground, they are still more talk then currently actionable funding options and few and far between.

Second, Canada's overall apathy and lack of opportunism and competitive spirit when it comes to embracing new ideas and leadership. Conservative, risk averse protectionism is what stifles Canada's ability to grow and claim these success stories as their own.

For someone who spends a lot of time south of the border and in other countries, it is a clear, disappointing truth that while many great things come from Canada, it is no thanks to our political or financial systems for supporting this success.

Tweeting to professional success?

2009-07-19T12:16:00.000-07:00

Where does Twitter live for you in the professional networking world? What role does it serve? Quick personal daily updates, provocative thoughts, stream of consciousness, developing a fan club, sharing interesting items, self promotion? Is Twitter about putting ideas out there with the goal of creating interaction and dialogue and positoining yourself in the world of the web, or is it about voyerism and narcisism? Which leads me to wonder, in what professional network is it deemed truly acceptable to promote yourself in a direct, shameless way. Is there a channel for this? Where will this ultimately aggregate?

Yes, people have made connections through Twitter that have led them to find a job. Yes, people have developed contacts through Twitter that have helped them build their business. But it all feels a little random still in terms of where this channel lives in the networking ecosystem online. If Facebook is for personal use and LinkedIN is for professional networking and updates then Twitter is still a relative novelty in its model alone I think. People are addicted to the public, 'levelled' access to all Twitter enthusiasts-- celebrity and anybody. You can find them all there.

We need to give some concentrated thought to our online profile in its aggregate and the overall message we are sending out to the world about who we are, how we think and what we do. And, in some instances... why they should care. If we leave it up to the collective digital thumbprint we may find out that people are getting the wrong impression. We need to do the work to stage, protect and control (to a certain extent) our professional profile and then manage it diligently.

Women entrepreneurs, market yourself with the Profit W100

2009-07-03T13:04:00.001-07:00

OK smart women entrepreneur followers, it's time to yell from the hilltops about how successful you are! Yes, I said yell!! Shameless self promotion and a W100 application is what it takes to get that much deserved attention for all of your hard work. In fact, why not add a http://www.videobio.com/ to your application?

The 11th annual ranking of the PROFIT W100: Canada’s Top Women Entrepreneurs is now open for applicatins and nominations.

This year, changes to the ranking criteria this year open up the program to smaller firms and companies across a wider range of industries.

And, they're launching a new ranking of up-and-coming women entrepreneurs who deserve recognition for their early successes.

What won’t change are the benefits of ranking, including coverage in the November issue of PROFIT, which can attract new staff, customers, business partners and the interest of other local and national media. You can also count on business-building marketing and PR support from PROFIT. Perhaps best of all, you’ll be invited to the PROFIT W100 Idea Exchange, an exclusive conference geared to helping you strengthen your company and management skills in collaboration with other female entrepreneurs.

You can request a nomination package by calling 1-800-713-GROW or completing the online ballot at www.PROFITguide.com/w100ballot

Application deadline is July 17, 2009.

Industry specific career matchmaking

2009-06-06T07:10:00.000-07:00

Industry specific career matchmaking just got better for employees in Canada who post their resume at Workopolis. Here is an excerpt from their recent release:

Workopolis releases stats from study that uncovers challenges with industry specific. New Workopolis functionality helps employers connect with hard-to-reach specialized candidates.

June 4, 2009, Toronto – In this ever-changing labour market, employers are looking for more efficient ways of connecting with hard-to-fill specialized workers. And according to new poll results from Workopolis, nearly six-in-ten (57 per cent) working Canadians fit the bill with self-described sector-specific skills and experiences.

To serve this need, employers posting a job on Workopolis.com can now access specialized workers through the Workopolis NicheNetwork, Canada’s largest specialized association and publication job board network. Starting today, a new Cross-Post feature will enable employers to quickly and easily access candidates from industries ranging from accounting to telecom.

“What employers need to help them navigate this downturn is great employees, and being able to quickly connect with hard-to-fill candidates is mission critical,” said Gabriel Bouchard, President of Workopolis. “Employers can forget the wild goose chase for specialized workers because the Cross-Post feature makes it all possible to target industry professionals in just one simple click.”

http://niche.workopolis.com

Do employers and employees see this as a value add among online job search engines?

Marketing yourself on the web. Women's Post Event. Courage to Lead

2009-06-04T12:42:00.000-07:00

Where are you in your own marketing campaign? I spoke at the Women's Post, Courage to Lead event on Tuesday night hosted at the Sony Style store and shared some of my thoughts on the personal marketing campaign. I enjoyed sharing the stage with Brent Wilson, Dragons Den and Tsufit, Author, Step Into the Spotlight! A great event.

Standing out... where Personal Branding meets Marketing

2009-05-02T10:36:00.000-07:00

For those starting to become more familiar with the whole idea of taking charge of your reputation and managing your profile online, you will undoubtedly have heard the terms 'personal branding' and 'market yourself'. Both key ingredients to career success. But, personal branding and marketing yourself are two very distinct concepts-- both equally important in the overall career strategy.

First, personal branding is about understanding who you are and what your strengths and weaknesses are, what you stand for and what you wish to be. Take William Arruda, CEO of Reach and a partner of Market Yourself Smarter/videoBIO in helping individuals to know themselves before sitting down in front of a camera for a videoBIO or thinking about a more concerted effort in building profile and marketing yourself. Reach has been in the personal branding business for years and is arguably the leader in the field for all things personal branding.

Next, there is the marketing step. This is the part where all of the groundwork comes together and is put to the acid test as you navigate through your career and create connections, make impressions and build success. Take videoBIO as a career marketing tool, for example. In order to get the best out of the videoBIO opportunity you need to know what you are putting into it. What are your key messages? What is your raison d'etre? What makes you unique and how do you convey this with energy and conviction?

So be sure to remember the one, two' step process when you are ready to launch your personal brand out into the market. Take care with your brand.