Marketing :: Women on Business

Archive for Marketing

Mar

Leverage the Social Web to Define Your Personal Brand

Posted by: Susan Gunelius | Comments (0)

Personal branding is absolutely essential in the world of the social Web. The first place potential employees look to learn about you (after reading your resume) is the Internet. Your Twitter stream, Facebook profile, LinkedIn profile, and so on all offer a glimpse into who you are as an employee and where you’re heading in your career. You need to be sure that your online persona is branded appropriately to help you reach your goals.

Branding yourself is just like branding a product line or business. The same principles that marketers use to create brands like Nike, Campbell’s, and Honda apply to personal branding. Consider women like Oprah Winfrey and Martha Stewart. Both of these women have defined their personal brands, created a brand image, message, and promise, and continually meet the world’s expectations related to their personal brands.

By branding yourself, perceptions are created about who you are and what you can do. Just as people have expectations for Oprah Winfrey’s behavior and business decisions, your colleagues, peers, superiors, clients, and potential employers will develop expectations for you based on the personal brand that you define and live.

Following are the three critical steps of building a brand that you should keep in mind as you develop your own unique persona that will be the foundation of your personal brand:

1. Consistency
Once you determine what your brand image, message and promise should be, you must consistently present yourself in the same way through every interaction, communication, and so on. Inconsistency leads to confusion. When you’re trying to build a career, consistency is essential.

2. Persistence
You need to relentlessly communicate your personal brand message, so it becomes the cornerstone of your online persona.

3. Patience
Understand that building a brand takes time. It’s a long term strategy that can help you establish yourself in the image and niche you wish to carve out for yourself throughout your career.

Categories : Career Development, Marketing, personal development

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Mar

What are you worth? The cost of branding you.

Posted by: Tina Kashlak Nicolai | Comments (0)

“The cost of doing business” speaks for itself. You have to put money out to make money; feed the investment so that it grows becoming lucrative and prosperous. A fundamental basic that business leaders process regularly, right? Absolutely!

Why then do many business professionals treat themselves and their own career marketing tools with substandard expectations? As a career strategist and resume writer, pricing of services is one of the top #3 questions asked of clients. Certainly understandable and always welcome!

If you are willing to spend money on high end clothing, hair salon upkeep or high end handbags, perhaps you may want to redistribute where you are investing your hard earned dollars. Are you buying into someone else’s brand or are you taking care of your own?

While most professionals realize the time, complexity and strategic writing that goes into developing a solid and effective marketing tool, there are always a few folks who see their resumes as a typeset piece of paper tracking the basics of their work history asking, “Why does it cost so much”?

Top 5 Reasons Professionally Written Resumes Cost Money

You are paying for a customized marketing tool reflecting your most important commodity…YOU. Customized, one-on-one marketing takes time and a specialized set of skills from a writer who has the ability to dig deep into extracting your key skills and accomplishments.

A behavioral based trained professional writer has a unique skill set in individualizing and interpreting your core competencies in writing. This takes credentialed training and years of practice which is more than just being a technical writer.
Strategic writing and appropriately targeting a clients goal is factored into a professionally written resume. When I am asked to write a general resume, I educate potential clients that this is not a service that I offer. A general resume is as useful as trying to catch a variety of fish using one type of bait.
Researching industry trends, verbiage and current job marketing opportunities takes time. Behind the scenes, a top notch resume writer is busy collaborating with industry peers, researching web sites and bringing forward new information to support the needs of the client.
Credentials cost money. Most writers have a varied assortment of credentials, education and training to support their writing. For a writer who is continuing to learn, refine skills, seek out new credentials and advanced exposure to global assessment programs, know that the cost of doing business will be aligned according to skills being offered.

Lesson: Invest in your professional brand by having the appropriate tools. If you are going to drive a fancy car, wear high end heels or expensive jeans, become truly authentic and coveted by having a top notch resume in your tool kit.

Categories : Career Development, Communications, Female Executives, Finance, Global Perspectives, Human Resources Issues, Job Search, Leadership, Management, Marketing, Resources & Publications, Strategy, Women On Business, personal development, public relations

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Mar

A Sweet Song of Success

Posted by: Linda Smith | Comments (0)

I’ve never been one to rush into new technology…probably my age or the fact that too much technology requires thinking logically. I’m an artist and by nature thinking analytically and logically isn’t my default. So I must report that I’m new to the iPod. What I have is the iPod Nano, a purple one, and I must admit I’m amazed at the sound that comes out this bitty thing. I bought one of those little amplifier things for the iPod Nano, a miniMove Boombox – and I got a pink one because you’re never too old for pink!

What’s taken me awhile to figure out, however, is how to use the iTunes store. I know that millions of people buy and download music, tv show, movies and more at iTunes, but for this old gal, it’s not intuitive. I got in the mood yesterday for the music of my younger years, Simon and Garfunkle and Heart. I made the purchase but then had a difficult time figuring out how to do the download and syncing…as I said, not intuitive. Probably logical.

So what does all this have to do with business and my title of “A Sweet Song of Success?” For any size business, from the tiny solo-preneur to the mega conglomerate, success is a matter of tonality. Of chords that make sense and lyrics that speak true.

The iPod is a successful product for the Apple company because it provides (1) exceptional sound, (2) multi-functionality – you can listen to music, you can listen to books and podcasts, and you can view tv shows and movies, (3) portablity, (4) variety of options – everything from color to features, (5) accessories to tailor its use for the consumer and (6) value for pricing. There are other provisions but these are good ones for any product. Measure your product:

Is your product exceptional? Is it constructed well? Will it hold up under ordinary useage? Is it easy to use? Does the paint chip? Will it sun fade? What is the shelf life? If you have competitors who make something very similar, what is different about yours?
Is your product a “do only one thing” product [nothing wrong with that] or does it have more than one function? Multi-functionality can offset a product that generally is a one-time purchase rather than a repeat purchase item.
Can your product be used in more than one location? Is it easily transportable?
Does your product have options? Does it come in various sizes, colors or flavors? Can you do more than one thing with it?
Can the consumer purchase add-ons to extend the use and functionality of your product?
Is your product priced competitively? Do you believe your customers receive equal or greater value for the price charged for your product? Do you offer any added value?

Interestingly, my iPod doesn’t replace anything – I have not gotten rid of our cd player…it has its place. But I am enjoying both the small size of the iPod and, because of its size, the many ways and places I can use it.

As for my mention of the musicians, Simon and Garfunkle and Heart, they are proof that some “products” retain their “flavor” long after they are first produced. How sweet is the success of having a product that retains a marketshare for decades.

Categories : Marketing, Strategy

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Mar

Networking, networking and more networking

Posted by: Kristin Marquet | Comments (1)

Networking can seem like a daunting task for those with introverted and shy personalities, but it is a must to be successful.

Since I’ve decided to give up a large portion of my client service business because I will be attending business school in the fall, I’ve decided to focus a lot more of my attention on going to events here in New York City and networking with people across all industries. Since I’ve been networking with people across all industries, I wanted to share a list of the most important things that I have learned to boost in person credibility.

Follow these tips to build a strong network:

1. Sincerity is a must. Most business people can smell phoniness from a mile away.
2. Determine your goals and objectives. Before attending any networking event – conference, luncheon, holiday party or any other business or social event, make sure it is for the right reason. Some events are for making contacts, while others are for learning a certain trade or industry. If you are a make up artist, I don’t think you would attend the American Bar Association Mid Winter Conference for Surety and Fidelity.
3. Join as many associations and groups to expand your professional circle. Many groups allow prospective members to preview how groups are organized by sitting in a seminar or attending an event.
4. Offer to volunteer in different organizations and events.
5. While networking, ask questions – who, what, where, when and how as opposed to questions that can answered with a simple “yes” or “no.”
6. By joining different groups and associations, your brand becomes transparent and you become a resource to others. It will also help you become an expert within your industry.
7. If you have a certain person that would like to speak to, make sure you have a clear approach. You don’t want to sound like you have no idea what you are talking about when you open the conversation.
8. Have a clear mission of how you can help networking professionals.
9. Respond quickly and efficiently to referrals. Don’t make others look bad by not delivering results that you promised.
10. Don’t try to sell yourself. Networking is about gaining leverage by building relationships with other professionals within your industry.
11. Dress appropriately for the occasion. Most networking events require business attire. Remember, first impressions are the only impressions that count.

In this day and age, networking is a must. It doesn’t matter whether you are looking to expand your business network or looking for a job, networking is critical to a healthy career. The more resources you have, the more leverage and opportunities will be readily available.

For more information on how to network effectively, contact Kristin at km@marquet-communications.com.

Categories : Leadership, Management, Marketing, Networking, Strategy, Success Stories

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Feb

My love affair with social media

Posted by: Mahsa Shamsipour | Comments (0)

I’ve been battling a bad cold for the past few days and I could not sit at my computer long enough to send a Tweet – thank goodness for BlackBerries! As you can imagine, I had a lot of time to think between making my next batch of green tea and watching the Olympics in bed (Go Canada!). One question that came to mind was, “what would the world be like without the internet, specifically, social media tools?”

If you think about it, it wouldn’t be as easy to connect with co-workers, contact clients and potential clients and connect with family overseas – or anyone outside of our current city for that matter. Social media lets us send our thoughts out into the World Wide Web in a matter of seconds. Sure there would be the telephone and mail systems, but seriously, how often do we use those anymore? The only things that are mailed to me are my bills; which do not make me a happy camper!

If it wasn’t for social media we wouldn’t have sites like Women on Business that connect women from various cities, backgrounds and paths in life.
We would not have quick access to Olympics results if we missed a competition (blasphemy!)
We would not be able to promote ourselves and/or our companies quite as quickly and easily as we do now.
If we didn’t have the internet I would not have heard about some great services: Vistaprint.ca for super affordable business cards and NextTree.com for super affordable web design.
Note: I would not be able to create a website because no one would be able to visit it without internet.
Some great fundraising opportunities and awareness campaigns have garnered international attention through the use of social media (i.e. earthquake relief efforts in #Haiti and the fraudulent #election results of #Iran)

Why am I suddenly being the poster child for the internet and social media sites, you may ask?

Well, over the past few weeks, I’ve been asked by a few people why I like Twitter and what’s so special about it (yes, there are a few people left who still do not use Twitter). I initially questioned my love, but then I realized Twitter has allowed me to connect with so many people, to be inspired and motivated by the things they do and the things they tell the world about. It has allowed me to be in the know about what is going on in my city (i.e. I’m following a mayoral candidate) and to be able to build my own little online community and network. I have talked to (tweeted) men and women from all over the world and have shared information. I have read people’s stories of career success and was able to share some of mine.

The point I am making is this, the social media empire is on the rise and everyone needs to get on board; either write a blog, use facebook or Tweet, and use it to its fullest potential. Promote yourself and your brand, network and meet people, promote your cause and/or your business, and most importantly, connect with people from various countries.

What better way to break down walls of prejudice and misinformation than to talk to and create friendships with people from all over the world? That is what I call successfully using social media.

Your mission for this week: connect with people outside of your timezone using social media and see how/if it can inspire you to lead a more successful life or career.

“To realize the full possibilities of this economy, we must reach beyond our own borders, to shape the revolution that is tearing down barriers and building new networks among nations and individuals, and economies and cultures: globalization. It’s the central reality of our time.” - Bill Clinton

Categories : Communications, Marketing, Networking, Recognition

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Feb

You were asked to write a Linkedin.com recommendation…Now What?

Posted by: Tina Kashlak Nicolai | Comments (2)

Social media is all the rage and certainly a powerful medium at that! Linkedin.com career profile marketing is the cornerstone for gaining immediate visibility worldwide. Fantastic! Each day, the numbers increase with new users, broadened network connections, and information to easily boost your knowledge base.

Perhaps one of the most frequently discussed topics pertains to writing linkedin.com recommendations. How to use them? How to write them? What to say? Can this be used as a reference? And so on.

While much has been blogged on these questions, there has not been much discussion on HOW TO handle a request for a recommendation from someone who provokes one of the following thoughts while reading your inbox email:

You didn’t speak to me when we worked together, why are you asking me for a recommendation?
You were the biggest jerk in on the team…are you kidding me?
LOL…Do you REALLY want me to write a recommendation on you as a leader?
John…John who?

I chose this topic after listening to a client of mine vent her frustrations.

“Can you believe XYZ asked me for a recommendation?”

My reply, “Yes…actually I can. I believe just about anything these days.”

In this particular situation, the requester did not speak to my client, wildly tried to cause political havoc, and was a litigious nightmare.

Turning Down a Linkedin.com Request for a Recommendation

Listed below is the most basic and effective method of managing the unwelcome request.

Two step approach:

Be honest
Keep your response simple

Sample:

At this time, I do not think we worked together long enough for me to name your strengths, capabilities, and work ethic. Wishing you success!

While I would like to be able to write a recommendation for you, I do not think I am the best person for this request. All the best!

Why Write a Response?

Offering an honest response is both beneficial to the requester (even if they are off of the mark) and to you. You are developing your confrontation skills in a healthy manner which will only help you in the long run. This will also help you establish healthy boundaries which are important to your credibility and professional brand.

If these reasons alone do not inspire you to take the high road, remind yourself that writing a response also lets the person know that “just is not that into him/her”.