As a recruiter, have you ever considered what your online influence is? What do clients and candidates think of your online presence? This very hot topic was address at the most recent Social Media Meetup entitled “How to boost your social media influence” with Andrew Grill, CEO of Kred the open standard for measurable influence,…
Tag: Reputation
“There’s a guy works down the chip shop swears he’s Elvis / But he’s a liar and I’m not sure about you” – Lyrics by Kirsty MacColl In pre-social media days the traditional hiring process was thus: Advert in paper, CV posted with covering letter, interview, second interview, offer negotiation and then references. Pretty linear stuff…
In traditional branding, the goal is to position your product in the premium segment. When you achieve this you can increase the price of the product and the demand will stay constant. In personal branding, you can do the same thing – you can become an expert.
Who is an expert anyway?
An expert is someone that knows their stuff better than anyone else in their field. When you start a job, you are likely to look up to your seniors and ask them for advice. One of these senior colleagues will be an expert, the person that basically has the best subject matter knowledge and can tell the others how to do things. An expert is not necessarily a people manager, oftentimes they prefer hone their own skills than managing others.
Whenever you see traditional titles like professor, chief architect, field marshal or anything else pompous you can expect the person to be an expert. Nowadays, you get the ‘new’ titles such as ninja or guru to denote an expert. Thought leader is another popular label used liberally across the Internet.
Some would argue that you can only earn your expert status from your customers and peers, never by simply saying that you are one.
Why should you want to become an expert?
It may sound a bit dull but there are a number of advantages to being an expert. Two of these stand out with clear benefits.
The fist one is that everyone wants to work with or buy from the person who has the reputation, credibility and knowledge of an expert. This means there is an increase in demand but not in supply; the person only has so much time to do their work. The first benefit of being an expert is that with more demand, you can choose which customers to take on as opposed to engaging with everyone.
The second clear benefit of being an expert is one of classic economics. I just mentioned that demand goes up but the supply stays the same; this means the supplier can set a higher price for their product or service. Again, instead of catering for the masses and competing on price like everyone else, the expert can choose who to work with and request a higher fee.
How you can become an expert in your field
There are probably as many ways to becoming one as there are experts out there. Some of these ways keep being mentioned and to me they are the top three. The three activities you have to be doing to become an expert are: listening, communicating and creating.
1. Let’s start with listening
Listening is the first one, by this I mean picking up information from all corners of your industry. Read blogs, magazines, books, go to seminars and workshops, watch and listen to the right programmes on TV and radio. When you listen and take onboard all that information, you will by default be improving your skills and getting closer to being the expert every day. Information is power as the old saying goes.
Related: Top 10 Books About Networking Effectively.
2. Communicate with your target audience
Communicating is all about being out there and talking to the people that matter in your industry. Whether it’s a client meeting, a networking event or you are commenting on a blog – it’s all interaction with your target audience. When you are engaging with the community, you will notice exactly what problems they are looking to solve – allowing you to adjust your service offering accordingly.
3. Create something interesting
Creating finally is where you produce content that secures you that expert status. Choose your channel wisely here according to what fits your audience. You could for instance write blog posts, newspaper articles, record podcast or produce video content. If you are really serious about becoming an expert, try your hand at writing a book. Whatever you choose to do, the results of your creative output will lead to further promotion of your personal brand and increased interest from customers.
Related: How Blogging Can Boost Your Personal Brand.
The expert’s advice
5 Kick-Ass Reasons to Boost Your Personal Brand Today.
Image credit Angelo Gonzales
The spread of social media has its risks for all of us. Those same sites that we use to connect to family, friends, and our community can also compromise sensitive information. According to Carnegie Mellon researchers, information listed on social media may be enough to guess a social security number, the key to identity theft.…
Your online reputation and personal brand is made up of what people can find about you when they tap your name into a search. Not only is it integral to have social media profiles at places like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Your brand will also be reflected in any blog posts you have written, forum entries and comments online.
You don’t have to be squeaky clean – it’s as important to be interesting and relevant – but an awful lot of damage can be done in a very brief period of time by behaving in an inappropriate manner. Before you know what’s happened, your reputation is in tatters and the fallout is irrecoverable.
This infographic from digital marketing agency KBSD looks at how you can manage your personal e-reputation.
Key takeaways from this infographic:
• 48% of recruiters and HR professionals refer to personal websites when deciding whether to hire YOU
• 63% of recruiters check social media sites to find out more about potential employees
• 8% of companies have fired someone for abusing social media
Further reading at How Recruiters Use Social Media to Screen Applicants Infographic. 
Source: KBSD
Job hunters must keep in mind that countless employers and human resources personnel are utilizing the web and, in particular, social networks to get additional information on prospective employees. This growing method of gaining information on applicants has provoked many job seekers to “get off the grid.” But it’s important to note that information gleaned…
Social networking sites are often advertised as a place where you can socialize with friends, family, and acquaintances. Nobody ever thought they’d find purpose in background checks! But then more and more recruiters and employers are using these sites as a valuable tool when screening potential employees. So if you’re currently looking for a job,…
As we all know, the Internet has made information instantly accessible. You can find a customer, business partner, investor or employer quicker than ever before. The flipside is that they are only a few clicks away from finding your entire social life online, for better or worse. A recent survey conducted by the good folks…