What Are You Hiding?
Dec 27, 2009 personal branding
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Barbara Safani on emurse wrote a post about “Five Quick Ways to Get Your Resume Tossed in the “No” Pile“.
What struck me the most about that list? Every item was about leaving out something. The most obvious allusion to that is when she says “the reality is that when the graduation date is missing, you are actually calling more attention to the very thing you are trying to hide.”
I think that’s a very important thing to remember. What we leave out, more often than not, is just as, if not more, important than what we put in. And people notice that. To be real, you have to take the risk of putting everything on the line – even things which may be potentially embarrassing.
Yes, there’s a fine line between managing your personal brand well, and covering up things which you don’t want people to know. The best solution? Neither, in my opinion. If you live your brand, if you live by your beliefs consistently and are who you say you are, you should have nothing to hide.
And that’s what we should all strive for, I think. Being completely authentic that we have nothing to hide.
Now, ask yourself – what are you hiding?
[?]Tags: authenticity, branding, reputation management, resume
The offline world still exists
May 12, 2008 Marketing
Stowe Boyd posted his story about his experience with Clear, and “bet[s] that Clear is going to do everything wrong“.
More than the customer service aspect of it, one thing that really struck me is this. With all the focus on online tools and Web 2.0 and all, it’s really easy to forget the basics – the offline things. Basic things like the sign on a door.
There’s so much talk about how companies should join the online conversation, create more engagement online, make their online tools more personal, etc. It’s easy to forget that for most companies, a large part of the customer experience is still the offline aspect.
It’s a simple thing. But one that we need to remember. As companies, or as individuals building our personal brands, even. We need to remember that there’s still an offline component. It’s easy to forget, especially when we make changes, because online is so much easier to change. It’s easier to change a website than to change the sign on a door. But they’re both just as important.
You’ve got to make sure that what you say and do offline matches what your behavior online. Not everyone’s going to check your website all the time.
Yes, the web allows you to spread your message further and establish your brand more. But your brand still exists offline. You’ve got to pay just as much attention to the offline experience.
There’s still an outside world that exists offline.
[?]Tags: branding, customer service, offline, web 2.0
