So... tell me about yourself

by Laurinda Shaver

Don't you love that question at an interview, networking events or even parties?

"So.. tell me about yourself?"

What is your answer? Do you have an answer?

Many people call it the elevator speech. That 30 - 60 statement that is suppose to perfectly position you in someone's mind. Its vitally important to get it right, but yet so many people get it wrong. Here are some tips to think about:

1. Its actually not about you.
Well sorta. Its about how YOU can help the other person. Do you give the other person a clear idea of WHAT you can do to help them?

2. Listen.
You can learn a lot be simply letting the other person talk. How do you know if you can help them if you don't know what they need?

2. Don't give me 3 million details.
People generally don't remember details given verbally. (unless it is a really AWESOME detail) The point is to leave an idea or impression on a person's mind. When they walk away from you, how do they position you?

• "That's the guy who can help me with my website."
• "That's the girl who builds communities online."
• "That's the guy who actually knows what SEO means and how it can increase my sales."

3. Paint a picture.
There is nothing like storytelling. If you describe a scenario, give an example, talk to a situation people follow along quite well.

4. Smile.
Don't take yourself too seriously. Meeting new people is just like a date. I check you out, you check me out and lets see if there is something in common. No person is above the other.

5. Be nice.
Obvious? Maybe. But think about the times when you have met someone and they were checking out the rest of the room instead of listening to you. Or they didn't have basic manners to say "goodbye, it was nice to meet you." Be courteous.

Do you have anything to add? Got a story about a good and/or bad initial meeting? Please share!

Bringing 'HUMAN' back in a lonely, social online world

Starving to connect with like minded people in like communities is without a doubt the reason for the success of social media platforms today. But how meaningful are those connections really? How many times have you been left wanting to see the real person behind the elusive twitter profile and hear what they have to say?

The more time deprived we are, the more hastened and short form our messages become. Heck, we conform to 140 characters or less, don’t we? With sms and online communication formats we are losing the human touch and the honesty and connection that comes with it. That’s where video is taking on a whole new meaning in the social media world. Taking your posts to video and sharing your thinking and ideas in video format brings personality back in a way that can’ t be achieved with text, pictures and links.

But the case for video goes beyond the human connection. The advancements in technology make it easy for us to share and view video and the numbers speak for themselves.
According to “The Global Web Index,” from Trendstream, with research conducted by Lightspeed Research, early this year 72% of US Internet users watched video clips monthly—making video bigger than blogging or social networking. And, by 2013 over 670 million people will be using mobile social media.

Despite what some may think, this video use is not reserved for the young savvy internet user. According to Lightspeed Research study conducted in May 2009, the distribution of video use is fairly even across the generations.

Imagine video used for recruiting? Talk about a game changing tool! If you are a job seeker, you should consider that executive recruiters are using social media to find you which means you need to manage the content online that represents you.

· 43% of job recruiters eliminate candidates due to negative content found online.

· 77% of executive recruiters use search engines to research job applicants.

· 83% of job recruiters use search engines to research candidates.

Source: http://www.reputationdefender.com/

I think it is fair to say that video makes sense for any professional networking use. Just think, when you Google yourself or your company, do you really want to leave it up to Google to define you? What if Google gets it wrong or out of order? What if Google says something about your brand that isn’t consistent with what you want people to see (or at least see first!).

For those of you who take their online reputation seriously, you need to think about video as a way to manage your online reputation by taking the time to package your message in a professional video that lives in your profile online. You don’t want to take chances with your brand.

It doesn’t need to be costly or time consuming and it doesn’t need to be picture perfect but it does need to be authentic to you and your voice. There is a business case for video. What is yours?

Why do I need video in my online profile?

by Laurinda Shaver

Why do you need an online profile at all? Let alone adding video to it.

Basically, if you want to control and take advantage of the online space as a way to promote yourself, your business, and/or your cause. You need to have an online profile.
1. By uploading information yourself, you are controlling what the online space says about you instead of having others do it for you.
2. By monitoring what is said about you, you are able to jump in and address issues head on before they escalate.
3. Your competitors are there. If you want to compete, you need to be there too.

So, your sold. You have decided use specific online tools. You have uploaded, monitored and watching your competitors. What next?

Well... video.

There is a fundamental difference between reading about you and watching you.
Text and pictures are limited in their ability to communicate because they are not the full communication package. Its missing one major thing. Body language.

Video is the next best thing to meeting someone in person. The experience of watching someone talk directly to you gives you the opportunity to judge their message appropriately.
Are they authentic?
Are they someone I'm interesting in knowing?
Do I buy what they are saying?

If you have something important to say, to promote, to advocate about. Why miss an opportunity to really draw attention.

Get your videoBIO on LinkedIn

LinkedIn now has the capability to embed your videoBIO right into your profile.

Andy at Sirona Says has a blog post that explains exactly how to do this.

An example of this is by Paul Copcutt at Square Peg Solutions in his LinkedIn profile.

I would love to see yours! Let us know if you posted any video in the comments.