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career management

Are You Ready to Hog the LinkedIn Publishing Limelight?

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“Have you been published? Do you have a book?” are common questions I am asked when I deliver keynotes and workshops. I should collect my approach to personal branding into a book, and the idea has crossed my mind a million times, but I seem to have as many excuses not to.

I had an interesting discussion with a fellow speaker at a recent conference when we talked about this whole notion that a book does not generate significant revenue, but can help clarify in your own mind what you stand for and can help clearly position your expertise and knowledge.

My first ever blog post was December 2003, so it’s not that I don’t like writing or run out of things to say! I am also one of those people that prefers the kinesthetic feel of a physical rather then digital book.  Market research suggests that the old fashioned book is not the rapidly dying media that some would have us believe.

But our social media streams are increasingly becoming a visual collection of videos, high quality images, You Tube links and GIF’s (Graphics Interchange Format).

“Visual media is the new headline.” – Unknown

The poll that I ran in one of my articles showed the following results when it came to the various visual media that people used as part of their publishing;

Read More »Are You Ready to Hog the LinkedIn Publishing Limelight?

Are You Getting the Full Story on LinkedIn?

Just like many other social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn is not giving you all the stories or even the latest posts and updates from your network, far from it. What you are actually seeing on your LinkedIn home page are the top stories and posts (and sponsored updates). So even though you might be thinking that Joe So-and-So has disappeared, they haven’t, its just LinkedIn has decided they are… Read More »Are You Getting the Full Story on LinkedIn?

Get Noticed And Appreciated By Your Boss With These 7 Personal Brand Exercises

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It is critical to your success that others know about your personal brand and what it stands for, here are 7 ways to help you do that.

Jane was a Senior VP at one of the banks. She had been there for 15 years with regular career moves and promotions.  Now she was frustrated because  her last performance review made her realize that her desired promotion to the C-suite was blocked.

She came to me for coaching and we soon determined the reason why she was not being considered for this key move. She was invisible. Not to her colleagues or boss in the local office but to the people making the C-level decisions in New York.  The solution was clear. We had to raise her profile in New York even though she was not based there.

We put in place an action plan to raise her credibility and visibility with the decision makers.  Within 9 months she was promoted to the CFO role.

This was a classic case of the right people not knowing about Jane and her personal brand. This may be the very reason that you too are not progressing in your career or getting invited to join the latest project or team. More of the ‘right’ people need to know about your personal brand.

Here are 7 key things about your personal brand that you need to ensure everyone (who matters) knows about you;

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Is LinkedIn Premium Membership Worth it?

This past month I ran an experiment, not too scientific, but effective enough that I stopped. For one month I cancelled my Premium LinkedIn membership to see if it made a difference. It did, the general level of interest dropped. Now there could also be a number of other outside factors I am not controlling but its enough for me to see the value in what I do in having… Read More »Is LinkedIn Premium Membership Worth it?

7 Best Practices For Being a Conference Guerrilla

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The following story is an example of how the actions recommended in this series of articles can work for you. Whilst they are intended mostly for longer conferences they can apply and work equally well to one off events.

How to be a Conference Guerrilla – Part 1 – Pre-Conference can be read here. 

In our time-crunched lives and with the option of virtual events, physically attending conferences can be a hard decision to make.  Approach events with more than just looking at the speaker line up, the complimentary networking sessions or in some cases to get the professional development credits checked off.  Instead actually measure the ‘return on investment’ of attending a conference. Start using this mindset and you will see the value to your organization and your personal brand in getting out there.

I once went to hear Keith Ferrazzi, author of “Never Eat Alone” speak at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Business. I learnt about the event from the organizer who had booked me to speak there a few months earlier.

I followed Keith’s advice in his book about ‘bumping‘ the speaker before they go on stage and engaging them quickly to gain a follow-up.  I had brought my copy of the book and asked him to ‘sign it before he became famous’ – a quote from the book. He commented that I had obviously read the book and I said it was (and still is) my most referred and recommended book on networking. I have even given several people copies as gifts.  I then told him that I would like the opportunity to follow up with him to discuss how to make his book the #1 business book in Canada. “Absolutely” he said and handed me his card.

As I walked away,  someone behind him had taken my lead and asked for their book to be signed.  I heard Keith ask the person….Read More »7 Best Practices For Being a Conference Guerrilla

Let’s Be Extra Careful Out There!

Firstly Happy Canada Day to all Canadian readers and Happy 4th of July for Monday to all my American readers. A new, unpublished Intel Security survey of 2,000 U.K.-based LinkedIn users found that nearly 24 percent of respondents have connected on LinkedIn with someone they did not know. Moreover, nearly 69 percent of survey-takers said it never even crossed their minds that the people they’ve connected with might be fictional online personas… Read More »Let’s Be Extra Careful Out There!

How to Be a Conference Guerrilla – Part 1 – Pre-Conference

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Recently I was the keynote speaker at the HR Leaders Conference taking place on a boat on the River Danube in Bratislava, Slovakia. It was a great conference and of course the location was pretty unique!

In our time crunched lives and with the option of virtual events, physically attending conferences can be a hard decision. I consider the speaker line up, the networking sessions or in some cases the professional development credits. I also consider the cost, both in terms of dollars and ‘lost production’.

However very few people actually measure the ‘return on investment’ of attending a conference. This is important because ‘getting out there’ adds value to your organization and your personal brand.

There is a lot more to it than showing up. Here’s how to plan like a conference guerrilla.

Pre-Conference

The meetings and conference industry runs into the $100’s of billions each year, so there are always plenty of conferences to choose from. With so much latest research and information available to access and use at the click of a mouse, going to a conference to hear the latest leading edge speakers should not be at the top of your priorities.

The true value of attending a conference are the relationships that you develop.

What is your goal? Is it to find new business for your company, network to find your next job or are there certain industry contacts you want to make?  Are there less expensive ways you can accomplish this goal other than conference attendance?

You might also want to review where your personal brand stands right now with a Personal Brand Audit

Review & Research

First step is deciding which conference to attend. There can be a number of factors worth taking in to account;

Read More »How to Be a Conference Guerrilla – Part 1 – Pre-Conference

Lead, Be Free, Find Success at Work

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If you feel like a square peg in a round hole at the office, like the person who believes collaboration will lead to more success than competition, like people and passion come before transactions, and that your experience at the office can be different, then keep reading.

I’ve been invited to join an amazing lineup of experts who have come together to share their knowledge and strategies for how work can be done differently – both for you as an individual and for your company.

The Corporate Rebel Series is free interview training series for professionals who want to lead, be free, and find success at work – all at the same time.

It all kicks off tomorrow (June 15th) And guess what? (This is the awesome part!)

It’s free to join. Grab your spot here. 

This training series is for you if…..

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It’s Not What You Know, its Who You Know on LinkedIn

New Enhancements to the LinkedIn Job Board Experience Despite the increased amount of business development, networking and relationship and the many recommendations now to build a profile that is more than just a cut and paste of your resume, for many users of LinkedIn it is still predominantly used to help them find their next job. Even with lower unemployment numbers having the upper hand with some more insights can… Read More »It’s Not What You Know, its Who You Know on LinkedIn

17 Steps to Ensure You Ace Your Next Video Interview

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This past week I was a guest for an experts interview series called Corporate Rebels. It was a Skype video interview and half way through the connection was lost, my hosts picture was frozen and I was talking away to myself (which can happen at other times occasionally!).

Luckily we were able to reconnect, finish the interview and with the wonders of editing the end result will hardly show a cut.  But it struck me how many steps I had to take to ensure that the 30 live minutes were the best they could be.

I thought this experience would be useful to help you the next time you are getting ready for a video job interview or podcast;

SET-UP

It is important to have everything set up way ahead of time. The last thing you want to be doing, when you are trying to get ready for an interview is stumbling and fiddling and not thinking about the task in hand.

Light Source

Natural light is ideal. If not, then ensure that there are lights casting enough illumination on you from more than one angle. You do not want only one side of your face showing or to find that the sun is shining right behind or across you, and the interviewer cannot see you. Windows or any source of light should be in front of you. If they are behind you, the viewer may only see your silhouette.

Backdrop

You want your interviewer to be focused on you so do not have anything like last weeks laundry hanging up in the background that could distract them. Stark blank walls are too bare. Plan for a pleasing backdrop like, perhaps a plant or tidy book case.

Set Design

You might use this set-up for future interviews or business meetings. Use set up marks for your computer, lighting, and chair or standing position. That way for the next call, you can set up quickly.

Read More »17 Steps to Ensure You Ace Your Next Video Interview