Be More Than a Username

When trying to make your name and services reside in the minds of people who you hope will be loyal to your brand and services, it’s always advised that you build an online presence. The internet is a gateway to accessing millions of people with ease, from all over the world. It’s so easy for one to get comfortable playing the role of online personality. However, it is wise to never use this as your only form of networking. One of the most harmful things to a business that many people do, depending on the business and services offered, is hide behind a username. Social networking may be popular online, but don’t forget where it started.

Be more than a username. This message goes out with a few intentions. One thing I have seen many people complain about, that I personally agree on, is having an account, whether it be on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. that has no personality in it. People want to connect with you and your services. It’s much harder for a person to gain a connection with an account that drops cold links, and only that. Drop your links when you will, but don’t be afraid to have off topic conversations as well. Don’t think that because this represents what you want to do professionally that you can’t show any side of you. Don’t expose too much personal information, but also, don’t make yourself one-dimensional. People either know or will soon find out what it is that you do. If they want to talk about that, then let them have it, but don’t feel you have to always be business. I think we all like to feel something emotional behind the text at times. Type like you would if you were having an intelligent conversation, not like you’re writing an instruction manual for toilet installation… unless you’re actually writing an instruction manual for toilet installation. Don’t joke around with that!

The other side of this is to never neglect what face-to-face networking can and will do! Sure you can reach hundreds, thousands, and even millions online quickly just by sitting in your underwear and typing, but how many of those people are really paying attention to you? What are you doing that every other user isn’t that makes it so that you don’t get scrolled by in a timeline? When networking face-to-face, you may not be able to reach as many people as you would online, but your intended goal of making a connection will be far easier. Your services now have a face, name, personality, a snazzy dress style, and a pretty awesome sense of humor. Your personality is what will make you stick in the minds of prospective customers and clients.

I feel that people don’t necessarily just buy what you make, in a sense, as most times there are numbers of people making the same thing. There is however, only one you. What do you believe? What is it that you hope to achieve? What’s unique to you? These are the things that people base their business on more often than one may believe. I’m sure we have all seen a fair share of a good product go bad because someone associated with it did something wrong, illegal, or said something offensive. People pay for what you believe, especially when they believe in the same thing. Although this is not a hardened rule of business, it is very relevant, in my opinion, and shouldn’t be taken for granted.

Don’t Let Social Networking Tarnish Your Name

When branding yourself, its very important that your clientele know who you are, what you do, and what your services can do for them. They don’t, however, need to know how many 4Loko’s it takes for you to black out. Separation can cause anxiety. Lack of separation can cost you a job, before you even get to a second interview.

It’s currently the year 2010. Our world is now heavily engulfed in a cyber universe that allows us to reach people and places that we may not have otherwise been able to reach without it. Never underestimate an employers curiosity as to what you do in your spare time. If you’re trying to make an impression online, I can say this, sometimes it is better to make no impression at all than to make a bad one. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying not to tweet or Facebook. What I’m saying is, be smart about it.

Twitter is one of the greatest services created of late, in my opinion. Sure it can get cluttered with robot accounts automated to drop links with no relation to certain topics, but with some time with it, its very easy to learn how to find your way through the trash and get to your intended destination. Twitter can be used to market like you wouldn’t believe. When you learn how to successfully target your audience, watch the numbers rise as your followers re-tweet your information and links, spreading it to many people, in many countries with the push of a button, depending on who their followers are and where they are.

Now, although Twitter can be used for enormous good, it can also be used to dig you a professional grave if misused. Sure, posting a picture of your favorite drink at the bar or your friends giving your other friend an atomic wedgie may seem harmless, but when your tweets go from “look where I am” to “thy sayn I drunk but Is twetn wid no problm”, that can be the end of the line for you with an employer who saw you a day ago in your best suit with your resume in hand stating how serious you take things. They may conclude that you over-share and are therefore irresponsible. Employers don’t expect you to not party, but you have to be aware that they may mention you to someone else, so they don’t want this person to find you just as easily and see the drunk you, because then that makes them look bad. Party hard, but keep it responsible and if you get wasted, keep it offline.

Now Facebook is usually a bit more closed off, with the array of privacy controls their team has incorporated, but here you run just the same risks. Try to stay away from updating statuses about how much your current manager sucks and how you’d like to spit on his bald spot and shine it for him. Facebook is notoriously used to upload pictures so people can see what a great time you had last night out with the girls, even though the only time you smiled was for the pictures. Remember when you added your boss and/or a few co-workers a few months ago? Oh, you forgot? Well, they won’t so easily forget that picture you uploaded – you know, the one your sister took of you squatting in the bushes to pee. Not so funny now that you’re sober and back in the office, is it?

If you really want to be online, as I know some people need to express themselves at the drop of a dime and love micro-blogging, please keep a separate account. Keep your name confidential, and maybe make the account private. You don’t want someone you’re trying to impress professionally to see you hugging porcelain or dry humping carousel ponies while holding a bottle of Jack Daniels.

Don’t Forget To Be Yourself

I was pleased this morning when I found an interview of Robert A. Eckert, chairman and chief executive of Mattel, conducted by New York Times’ Adam Bryant. In the article, Robert Eckert explains the importance of people and who they are, not necessarily what they have done. It may seem like it is against stereotypical business models for hiring, but if you take the time to think about it, it makes sense.

If you have experience, you will have likely run into people who have come and gone from companies, whether the job position be higher or lower in the economic chain. One reason for this may be hiring based on what a piece of paper says, without much introspect of the person the piece of paper is talking about. You may have gone to a great school. You may have a great GPA. You may have done some good things for a prior company, but who are you? This is the question that I have noticed to be more prominent in today’s business world.

At the end of the interview process, and further into company operations, people work with people. The resumes don’t work with each other. When interviewing, don’t be afraid to be yourself, because employers want to know who they are hiring, not what they are hiring. Successful leaders do not look to have followers, they aspire to work with more leaders. A resume cannot tell them about your personality and whether or not you are compatible with that leader role. Interviews can be nerve wrecking and rigid, depending on the interviewer and interviewee, but this is something you may want to conquer. If you’re nervous, just try to relax as best you can.

Sometimes, irrelevant conversation during an interview can be a very good thing. Think about how many people they may interview. If you can find a commonality with the interviewer, don’t be afraid to exploit it if they seem to be interested. Stand out when possible, or run the risk of being another boring interview with a talkative resume.

Mr. Eckert is a Chairman and Chief Executive. When asked what he is listening for when he interviews, he responded, “Stories. You’re interviewing me now, but we could just as soon be having a job interview. You’re going to walk away from our session right now with a perspective about me. And it’s not focused on my career accomplishments, like what I did in 1987 when I was the vice president of marketing in the grocery division. It’s a conversation about a person.”

When he was offered the job with Mattel, he was given the opportunity to meet with anyone in the company of his choosing. Instead of meeting with the Chief Financial Officer he chose to meet with the head of human resources. He wanted to know what made the company tick, who did what, who the people were, and what was being done to make the next generation in the company better than the current. It takes quality people to be successful, not quality paper.

Moral of the story? Be professional at all times, but don’t make the mistake of confusing professional with mechanical. I’ve seen all too many interviews, some even with myself being the interviewee, where the interview is as dry as a sand smoothie. It’s painful to watch or be in. Don’t expect your resume to speak ultimate volumes of you. Especially, don’t make this mistake if you don’t have much experience, because although experience may catch the eye of an employer, it’s not the finishing touch. If it were, they would have dialed your phone number when they saw your resume and told you that you have the job immedately.