All Posts By

Marijean

Dear Charlottesville: How to Interact with National Media

By Media

Charlottesville, Virginia is in the national news again. Reporters are already descending upon our city and it’s likely you’ll see and even recognize some of them. Here’s what to do:

  1. If a reporter asks you if you’d like to be interviewed, either accept or decline, but do so respectfully. This is a person doing a job.
  2. If you agree to an 0n-camera interview, look at the reporter, not the camera. Speak in short sentences and be mindful of not using local jargon. A national audience doesn’t know what “the mall” or “the corner” is, for example.
  3. You will be asked to supply your name and spell it. Just FYI. This is not the time to be anonymous or give a false name.
  4. If you are nervous, upset, happy, excited — feel free to use those words to describe how you feel about what’s going on. You could be the face of the story at hand and your feelings are what the media will want to share — about whatever is happening in the moment.
  5. Represent your city! We’re all proud of Charlottesville. This is our chance to let the nation and even the world know about our home. Think now, before you have the opportunity to speak, about three things you want the world to know about Charlottesville. For me, it’s a beautiful place, there’s much to do, and the people are, by and large, friendly and welcoming.
  6. What’s the main message you want to get across? Make it short. Write it down. Practice it.
  7. Don’t put your desire to be on television or in the newspaper above your personal safety. It’s not worth it. Get your 15 minutes of fame some other time, for something else.

 

5 Reasons Not to Be a LinkedIn Hater

By Communications, Social Media

 

 

I was in a client meeting not long ago when the use of LinkedIn was mentioned.

“I hate LinkedIn,” a meeting participant said. Here’s why I think that’s a mistake:

1. Search plays a big role in the management of your reputation. When someone googles your name, (particularly if your name is unusual) your LinkedIn profile does appear.

Whether you like it or not, if you have created even an incomplete profile, it will show up in search engine results. If you have no profile at all, you are only frustrating the person who is trying to locate you (and what if they have a really great business deal or offer to extend to you; what then?)

2. Recommendations are third-party endorsements that say that you are who you say you are. Think about it; you wouldn’t hire someone to do plumbing or painting at your home without a referral from someone else, right? It speaks highly of you and your business to have a few recommendations from clients and colleagues visible in your searchable profile. (They’re also good to read if/when you’re having a really bad day.)

3. Avoid that awkward blind-date scenario by allowing a new business contact (with whom you’re meeting for the first time in person) to see you and know a bit about you beforehand. It’s a courtesy in today’s business world, and expected. A fully completed profile should have a photo of you so if you’re meeting for coffee, your contact will know who to look for.

4. Maybe it’s not you (maybe it is), but someone in your company is responsible for website traffic. Give them a leg up by listing the company website and going the extra mile by giving it the right name instead of accepting the default settings of “My Company” and/or “My Blog.”

5. LinkedIn is easy; it’s people you know (not those you don’t or those you used to know, long ago). It’s not scary and does not have the privacy issues that Facebook often faces. No one plays games like Candy Crush or posts quizzes on LinkedIn. It is a social network designed for online business networking; that’s it. Its simplicity and clarity of mission make it an important component of your overall social media strategy, whether that strategy is personal or on behalf of your brand or company.

LinkedIn has stood the test of time and consistently added smart upgrades to remain current but true to its original purpose. Don’t hate LinkedIn; it’s there for you to use to succeed. See you there.

http://www.linkedin.com/in/marijeanoldham

 

Whoops! I’m Two People on Facebook

By Communications

Do you have two profiles on Facebook? If you do, your intention was probably to have a “professional” profile and a “personal” one.

Guess what? This is what you’ve done instead: you have given others reason to have the following reactions:

  1. In a search, they are unsure which one of you to connect with — are you friends or professional contacts? Whose decision is that?
  2. Hey! I thought we were friends! Why now are you shifting me over to your “business” self?
  3. What are you up to personally that you feel like you need a totally different profile to protect your “private” self?
  4. You really don’t understand Facebook, do you?

None of the reactions others have to you and your dual Facebook personalities are positive, are they? Furthermore, why on earth do you want to complicate your life by having to manage two different profiles?

You’re also making yourself vulnerable by violating Facebook’s terms of service — you know, that thing you clicked YES to and never actually read? Here’s a section:

See that part about not creating more than one account? If you end up having a hacking problem or other security breach, you’re going to have a really tough time getting anyone at Facebook to help you if you’ve violated any of these items. Just sayin’.

How to Stop Being Two People on Facebook

You’re going to have to deactivate one of your personalities. More than likely, its the newer one, the one you decided to create for a more “professional” appearance. Log in to that account.

Go to Account –> Account Settings –> Deactivate Account.

Now, I understand that you still have this conflict; that there are parts of your life you want to share with friends but not necessarily colleagues or business prospects. The way to manage that is with lists.

This will help: How to Create Lists, Save Some Privacy on Facebook in Five Easy Steps.

Really! Do it today!

Read this, too: My friend Michelle (Golden) Rivers has a great post on this topic as well — Managing Your “Private Life on Facebook While Developing Business.

Google to Save America with New Job Search Function

By Communications, Social Media

The announcement came from Google this week: Google is going to make America great again help Americans find work. Could Google, with its new job search function, pulling in job listings by geography into a user’s search results, be the tool that helps people throughout the United States find the work they seek?

As a search engine, Google has proven it is the best. Google is a full 43% ahead of its nearest competition, Bing. With stats like that, you have to wonder, why do other search engines even bother? I, for one, have never heard anyone speak of a “Bing ranking.”

The job search function is really promising. It’s rather time consuming to go from site to site (LinkedIn, Ziprecruiter, Snagajob, Glassdoor, and many more) in one’s job search. Streamlining the process can only help the unemployed or dissatisfied find their next, great opportunity faster.  In a quick test, I searched Marketing Jobs in Charlottesville and got back a solid list of opportunities, the first several the most recent and relevant, in under a second. The second page of results provided a dropdown that displayed employers and let me filter out different parameters. Pretty nifty.

It still takes the future employed persons of America following through, applying, showing up for interviews and doing a good job when they get hired, but I have hope that this will benefit some seekers to get off the couch and into the office.

To All Ye in a Job Search Panic

By Social Media

Hi there!

I know you’re freaking out because you thought you’d have a job by now. But what’s really happened is that you’re at the bottom of a hill looking up, and you’re not really sure now how you’re going to get to the top because that hill just keeps getting bigger.

I get it.

I hear how you’ve been “networking,” by asking people to coffee and lunch, asking to pick the brains of others (what are you, a zombie?).

I want you to stop a second. Back up. Google Thyself. Do you like what shows up? Have you paid attention to it? Do you have a LinkedIn profile? Are you proud of it? Is there nothing, or not much at all to find? That says something, too, you know.

Here are 12 Things to Do on Your LinkedIn Profile Today. 

What are you doing with your resume? Is it searchable? As in, is there an online version of it? Have you bought the domain that is your full name? Do that. It’s inexpensive. And then put your resume on it. I promise there’s someone you know who can help you with this. Ask a high school kid.

You’ve done all that? Great. Now, start working on what I call the “Five a Day” plan. FIVE. Reach out to (see in person, call, write a letter, send an email, text, bake a pie and deliver it) five people for help in your job search. Five. A day. Seriously.

Expand your thinking. Be open to new ideas. Perfect is the enemy of great and other buzzy workplace platitudes. Just get in there and stop panicking.

There’s a lid for every pot. Go find your lid.

Then come back here and tell me how you found it.