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5 Steps to Staying Relevant at Work after 50

With the different approaches to work, baby boomers could be forgiven for believing that their relevance in the workplace is disappearing faster than the seemingly daily advances in technology. It is why I find many clients questioning their work and the bigger picture of their overall life. Often we end up exploring a deeper meaning to it all and land in the areas of mindfulness and purpose. But a report… Read More »5 Steps to Staying Relevant at Work after 50

Do You Have What It Takes To Succeed With Your Linkedin Profile?

“My belief and goal is that every professional in the world should be on a service liked LinkedIn” – Reid Hoffman I have been enjoying spending a lot more time using LinkedIn. Are we connected there? If not lets do that now – click here to access my profile. Like many entrepreneurs John Nemo bootstrapped his business. After a successful communications and PR career he jumped in at the deep… Read More »Do You Have What It Takes To Succeed With Your Linkedin Profile?

5 Lessons I Learned From Organizing a TEDx Event

  “Learning never exhausts the mind” – Leonardo Da Vinci Conversations were going on everywhere. People were connecting with new faces, or others they knew but in a new way. They now had something stronger in common. Some were even catching up with people they had not seen in years. The local speakers were in high demand with peoples questions and congratulations.  The energy was electric and contagious.  This was how it… Read More »5 Lessons I Learned From Organizing a TEDx Event

7 One Liners That May Not Work on Valentines Day

There was some great brand re-enforcements and conversation starters that were evident to me at a recent meeting I attended in a mid-town winebar called Reds.   There was everything from coasters with great W.C. Fields quotes on, as well as written in lipstick on the bathroom mirrors. Matchboxes, notepads and even Red pencils with “Stolen from Reds Midtown” stamped on them. But what really got us laughing and talking… Read More »7 One Liners That May Not Work on Valentines Day

Do You Make This Profile Damaging Mistake on LinkedIn?

Some of the top professionals and career experts on LinkedIn are making a very basic and in many cases obvious mistake with their profiles. The danger for all of us is if this continues, LinkedIn becomes more of a flea market than a professional network.

Martha Amanda Pamela Ninja AmeliaDebra

But you might be doing the same, without knowing. This collection of well taken headshots are all purported to be of various professionals on LinkedIn. One of them even recently reached out to me to make a connection. But I noticed that her image had a watermark from one of the stockphoto services which immediately made me suspicious.

I uploaded their image to Google Image Search and discovered the same image was available for purchase on Shutterstock and 123RoyaltyFree as well as being used on a national women’s association website and in an industry magazine. She was also used on more than one LinkedIn profile.

Usually when receiving a new request for a connection I do not immediately recognise I look to see who else in my network might know them. Considering other perspectives I wondered if this was this being done out of a desire for some level of privacy? Or was my instinct correct, were there other phantom profiles?  Sure enough I started to find some of Amanda’s ‘friends’.

What was even more shocking was how many leading career experts and professional ‘gurus’ (some even networking and social media experts) had these types of profiles as 1st level connections. How was this so?  Maybe it was a…….

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This little piggy went to networking…….

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I almost felt like I was living the 12 days of Christmas at a recent networking meeting;   12 Mortgage Agents lending,   11 Realtors listing,   10 Financial Planners investing……… You get the idea. When you have a large event there will always be multiples of businesses, vocations and specialties. So when that is the case, how do you stand out? Meet Donald Lofthouse of Keybase Financial Group. He likely… Read More »This little piggy went to networking…….

Is your business card a turn on or turn off?

  I have just returned from speaking for the CCCA (the in-house counsel association) at the Canadian Bar Association's conference in beautiful Vancouver. We really could not have picked a better week for weather. Hello to everyone who has joined this e-zine from that event. Like me, you probably find at conferences that you encounter many different ways and means of people trying to communicate their message. Sponsors, trade booth… Read More »Is your business card a turn on or turn off?

Your networking is confusing me. Am I missing something or has the train left the station?

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The recent news that Bombardier (the Canadian transportation company) had a strategy around it's business development and lobbying activity should come as no surprise. In fact I was astounded that the tone of the Globe & Mail article and certain commentators seemed to perceive this as somewhat deceitful. The particular business activity that was being analysed was their eventual win of a $2 billion train and maintenance contract for South… Read More »Your networking is confusing me. Am I missing something or has the train left the station?

How E-mail Damages Your Personal Brand

The recent report of an executive recruiter in the UK being fired for e-mailing a job candidate to go away using colourful language – but accidentally copying everyone (all 4,000+ of them!) on the candidates blast list, highlights the dangers of damaging your personal brand and career by relying too much on technology. What is that recruiter going to say when the question comes up "Why did you leave your… Read More »How E-mail Damages Your Personal Brand

Your Business Card is NOT a Queen of Spades

We love to play various card games. My kids especially love Crazy 8's, it's a fast paced game with the main goal to get rid of all your cards before any opponents. They get extra enthusiastic when they lay a card down that causes you as the next player to pick more cards up – especially the Queen of Spades, where the penalty is 5 extra cards!  Unfortunately at many… Read More »Your Business Card is NOT a Queen of Spades