Career Management Alliance Blog

An important step in managing and owning your online identity is to purchase a domain name of “your name” (example, “johnsmith.com”), before someone else beats you to it.

Dan Schawbel, a personal branding expert who coined the term “eBrand” to tag “a digital representation of you on the Internet”, recently suggested on his Personal Branding Blog:

“I’m still holding onto my future prediction that instead of a resume, video resume, cover letter, portfolio, paper business card, and references document, your personal eBrand will exist as a single URL…In the future, you will need to compile, centralize and store these elements into a master website (yourname.com)…One URL will tell your complete story.”

A number of careers industry thought leaders concur. Instead of having bits and pieces about your career history, activities, and achievements floating around in various places, it’s best to consolidate them all into one easily accessible online location.

What better Web address to present your online portfolio than your own name? Even if you don’t soon plan to launch a Website, don’t think you need a domain name, or don’t know what to do with one, it just makes good career management sense to claim your online name now, especially if you have a common name shared by others.

Registrars like Go Daddy make it easy and extremely inexpensive to do. If your “firstnamelastname” is already taken, be a little creative and try variations incorporating your middle name:

jsmith.com
johnrobertsmith.com
jrsmith.com
jrobertsmith.com

Hyphens between words (“john-smith.com”) are perfectly acceptable, but beware that you will forever have to remind people to “include the hyphen”. If they don’t, they will be led nowhere or to someone else’s Website.

Try for a dot-com first, because most people will assume it’s a dot-com and try to find you there. If all the viable variations are taken, move on to a dot-net as the next-best option.

Posted by Meg Guiseppi

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Continually searching “your name” (in quotes) in Google or other search engines, sometimes referred to as “Googlitis”, is a relentless need some of us have to see where we stand in the search results – monitoring how the results shift and multiply or diminish with each new search.

The practice has become so prevalent that “self-Googling” appears in the dictionary. Some may consider it a vain pursuit, but it’s become a best-practice for job search and ongoing career management. The fact that it’s fun to do is an added bonus.

As Seth Godin said on a Personal Branding Blog post last week,

“Google yourself. If you’re a salesperson, your prospects already do. If you’re looking for a job, your prospective employers already do. If you’ve got a job, your co-workers already do.”

If you’re purposefully trying to build online visibility for yourself – and there are many reasons you should be doing this – you need to track your search results regularly to see what’s happening and what’s working for you. Take a look at which results come up on the first page. Do all the results truly represent you? Is the information on-brand and relevant to the way you need to present yourself now? If you’re not happy with the information people will find about you when they link to the sites, can you change it?

William Arruda categorizes 5 levels of online presence in an article at MarketingProfs, from “Digitally Disguised” to “Digitally Distinct”, the last being the brass ring. If you have results that aren’t consistent with your brand, or are downright undesirable, you’ll have to run damage control and begin repairing the bad stuff by outdistancing it with positive, on-brand content to expand your visibility and build the kind of presence you want. The good stuff will fairly quickly percolate to the top results, hopefully pushing the bad stuff to the tail end of results.

Profiles on online social networking sites (LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.) usually rank within the top few results. If you haven’t joined a few of these groups, it’s a good idea to do so. If you already have, make sure your profiles are hard-hitting and on-brand.

Some other ways to increase your on-brand online visibility include writing articles for relevant websites, contributing to relevant blogs, writing reviews of relevant books (for Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, etc.), and joining relevant professional associations with websites that have a strong online presence. Consider launching your own website and blog and investing in search engine optimization.

If you are “Digitally Disguised” – no results appear when you Google your name – you have the opportunity to carefully build presence and control what information about you is out there.

posted by Meg Guiseppi

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All things Considered, NPR’s afternoon news show, featured this story today, April 7, 2008:

“Police in East Lansing, Mich., used tear gas to disperse thousands of out-of-hand partygoers near the Michigan State University campus at an event promoted as Cedar Fest on Facebook. Police are trying to determine whether the Facebook party organizers can be held accountable.”

How does this news jive with the advice of business bloggers like Bob Gourley, who recently suggested that Executives should use LinkedIn and Facebook?

What will this mean for the cohort of professionals who are streaming over to the interactive Facebook from more static networking forums, like LinkedIn.com?

Are the Facebook “natives” happy about the migration of more professional “immigrants” to the site that has been a place to plan parties, “poke” friends, and check-out fun connections?

Should Facebook friends feel compelled to clean-up their profiles so recruiters and other professionals can use this tool as yet another way to vet candidates? Should professionals be like rain, and go away….?

Will law enforcement authorities be able to hold Facebook members liable for the collateral damage and consequences of postings initiated through the social networking site? Will Facebook’s digital fingerprint and YouTube’s video record of the event put the kibosh on the partying? Will Facebook be able to “grow-up” without going to jail?

Posted by Karen P. Katz; cross-posted on Career Acceleration Notes 

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“World-class oomph”: that’s how Fortune Magazine describes 25 strong personal business brands in its feature story, “Power 25.“ Though the phrase “personal branding” does not occur in the article, the write-up on each of the 25 could easily be part of a brand bio.

For instance, Steve Jobs is described as, “The Beethoven of business,” able to “conjure digital objects of desire from esoteric blends of chips, disks, plastic, and software, and then promote them with his own alluring brand of performance art.” Warren Buffett’s nickname is “The sage of Omaha,” someone people everywhere listen to.

So, is “power” inherent to a personal brand? I say “yes.” Another article in Fortune’s same issue considers the “soft” or “cool” power of leaders who wield “attraction rather than coercion.” They are successful because they motivate activity around them without using threat or pressure. So, if a personal brand is about power, then it is also about influence, the force that drives the brand, or the energy that fuels a person’s expression of his/her brand. Oprah’s brand is a whole lot more than “rich black businesswoman and TV personality.” It is also about her power to make interpersonal connections with millions over the television. Mother Theresa’s brand is about being the saintly caretaker for the poor of Calcutta, but it is also about her power to embody and express compassion.

Think about what fuels your brand. How do you make change happen? What is the “oomph” within you that gets expressed in your career and life? What is the influence that you wield? “May the force be with you” in 2008!

Posted by Jean Cummings

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Every 25 days or so, I get an email from a professional contact I have never met and with whom I had only a brief professional relationship in 2006. His emails often start out with “Hi Jean, how the hell are you?” and he follows up with a one- or two-sentence update that is either professional or personal or both. I can usually count on a crack about his mother-in-law.

It turns out I love these emails! They aren’t looking to sell me anything, ask me anything serious, or do anything in particular at all. They make me happy. They make me laugh. They make me feel connected. And if I were looking for a job, he’d be one of the first people I’d call!

So this guy is part of my network. I’ll bet he nurtures a network comprised of a great many people. I’ll also bet that he sets up his Outlook to alert him every few weeks that it is time to dash off a quick email to Jean. This is an old-fashioned (but still great) way to network.

How about using one of the newer networking tools defining people’s interactions? According to Fortune Magazine’s Josh Quittner: “Facebook’s got Google running scared.” Why? Facebook is turning the World Wide Web open-to-everything model on its head. He dubs this new direction the Innernet.

Quittner says that Facebook enables you to put boundaries around your own personal network (and thus control who sees what about your online identity). It give you a place “…where you exercise almost absolute control, showing the world only as much of your true self as you care to while protecting you and yours from the evil that lurks on the wider web, from spam artists to identity thieves. Whoever builds that walled garden stands to make the next great Internet fortune.”

The upshot? Whether you use one of the social or professional networking sites or use a simple mail or phone call approach, if you have a job now or ever want to have one, feed and care for your network(s)! With networking accounting for ~80% of new hires, jump on the Innernet bandwagon now - and keep on networking!

Posted by Jean Cummings

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Although I believe in acta non verba, there has certainly been lots of talk at the 2007 meeting of public relations practitioners, held from October 20-23, 2007 in Philadelphia. Celebrity Keynotes have included Mia Farrow, Tim Russert, Donna Brazile, and native son, Brian Tierney.

My brother-in-law, Peter Brinch, has been bunking with us while attending this year’s PRSA International Conference. Peter, who is also published as Soren Brinch, is a business communications “utility infielder,” who also reviews books about and specializes in organizational crisis management.

During our limited time together over the last few days, we Boomers have been discussing the merits of the new social media, including podcasts, blogs, and social networking tools, including Facebook and LinkedIn.com. My question to the readers and bloggers of the Career Management Alliance is:

Are we well ahead of the curve…are we trendsetters, smart followers, or are we late bloomers…as we use these tools to grow our businesses, and to raise the online profile of our clients?

For some interesting reading related to blogging and marketing for small businesses, check-out some of the gurus of the Public Relations field:

• Paul Gillen is a specialist in advising business-to-business marketers on strategies to optimize their use of online channels to reach buyers cost-effectively. He is particularly interested in social media and the application of personal publishing to brand awareness and business marketing. His new book is: The New Influencers (2007)

• Eric Schwartzman established his Los Angeles-based firm in 1999 to offer technology, media and entertainment clients a full range of public relations services with an emphasis on integrating the Web into every aspect of media, community, analyst and industry relations. Schwartzman is a known advocate and early adopter of leading-edge technology, such as blogs and podcasts. He is offering a New Media PR Boot Camp on November 6 & 7, 2007, to be held at New York University. (PR Boot Camps are scheduled in locations throughout the country through the end of the year.)

Peter and I challenged one another, going ’round and ’round about self-marketing and personal branding! We agreed that technology will drive even more radical changes in communication in the years to come. To paraphrase Dr. Seuss, we can only imagine “…the Places We Could Go”

Posted by Karen P. Katz

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News articles have reported another scam targeting people whose resumes were posted on Monster. Because of a security breach, the contact information from millions of resumes was captured, in particular, the email addresses. People who have posted resumes receive a “phishing” email that appears to come from Monster and encourages people to install some job-search software. People then receive either of two harmful programs. One enables the thieves to record passwords when the user performs online banking transactions, thus providing the thieves with access to people’s bank accounts. The other program locks important files so the user can’t access them until paying a “ransom” fee of $150 to unlock the files.

The source of the security breach appears to be from one of the employers that uses Monster and not from Monster itself. Nevertheless, if you have a resume on file with Monster, be on the lookout for a bogus message from Monster and don’t install the alleged job-search software the message promotes.

As always, caveat emptor.

Posted by Wendy Gelberg

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Fast Company has marked the 10th anniversary of Tom Peters’ The Brand Called You with a puffy, but motivating piece on the re-branding of Al Gore. Ellen McGirt’s cover story in the July/August 2007 issue of FC (Al Gore’s $100 Million Makeover) is required reading for anyone involved in career transition.

Gore has integrated his geeky penchant for research, his access to well-heeled connections, and his willingness to speak passionately about issues: the result is a transformation from failed politician to successful entrepreneur. No longer the butt of late-night TV jokes, he is now an aspiring media mogul as the co-owner of Current TV. He has become an adviser to two of the World’s Most Innovative Companies, Google and Apple; co-founder of an investment firm that promotes a new definition of sustainability; and, he is also involved in other enterprises that have raised his net worth from $1-2 million to more than $100 million in less than seven years. Politics aside, this transition from “almost got the job” is a story that can inspire the success of others, even those with more moderate goals than Gore’s.

A few learning points:

• Be purposeful in defining your brand: find your passion.
• Dare to be different: innovation is not as intimidating as invention - You CAN do it…
• Connect with friends, family, colleagues: “to network” can be conjugated as a noun, verb, adjective, adverb - it works at all levels
• Use technology: aside from promoting your ideas, technology allows you to listen and learn from your customers/audience

There is a lot of buzz in the careers community about this topic of branding (the book by Kirsten Dixon and William Arruda is a must-read). While Gore may not have participated in an official branding program, the transformation of his image and financial outlook speak volumes for the value of thoughtful and guided transition.

Posted by Karen P. Katz

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LinkedIn is a great tool for anyone who is looking to build their on-line identity and it offers multiple features for finding people and being found.

One of my favorite features on LinkedIn is the profile section. It allows users to create an elevator pitch and mini resume and broadcast it to hundreds of thousands of users in a global 24/7 environment. These profiles are searchable by keyword, so it is easy to quickly find people who work in a particular industry or company, went to a certain school, or belong to a particular professional organization.

LinkedIn helps users quickly turn a cold call into a warm lead by blending the concepts of networking with the profile section that helps job seekers market their candidacy through their on-line resume, specialties section, and endorsements area.

LinkedIn is kind of like networking in one really big elevator with tons of decision makers listening to your message on the way up. Give them something worth listening to. Create a robust profile on LinkedIn today and enjoy the ride!

Here’s a great post from the ERE blog that discusses how to beef up your LinkedIn profile.

Posted by Barbara Safani

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The interview strategies mentioned in ComputerWorld’s “You Don’t Need to Show Up for this Kind of Job Interview” may be extreme for the average job seeker … today. However, it drives home the importance of understanding and embracing the ever–evolving strategies that are critical to winning that next great opportunity.

Continuing to play the “posted position game,” where a candidate is only reacting only to those ads for positions that appear to be a fit with your skill sets, is highly–competitive, inefficient, and ineffective. It takes on average posting 100 resumes to get four interviews … and that is assuming you are posting to positions for which you are qualified.

Rather, devote about 10% of your overall weekly job search time to posted positions, and then spend the balance of your time networking, building visibility, and targeting companies directly. A more balanced search strategy will increase the return on your investment by shortening the length of the search.

You can move the process along even faster by knowing your market differentiation. Do you? If not, unfortunately, you are relegated to mere commodity status … you look and sound like every other prospective candidate. Knowing how you are unique and better (personal brand) than the competition will help you stand out from the competition and leverage just the right opportunities!

Once you know your market definition, make sure your target audience can find you. Networking today is as much about who you know as it is about who knows you! Creating branded visibility is a long–term career management strategy that is quickly becoming “the” strategy for shifting the paradigm from job hunter to hunted candidate.

Posted by Cindy Kraft

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