Business networking sites

If you are looking for a job, and could not find a good one through the usual channels then business networking websites like LinkedIn and Ryze are the ones you should scan first. People often advertise jobs here, but to be successful in here, you will have to first make your presence felt by preparing a strong profile that should have some sound recommendation.

Job boards and forums

Believe it or not, forums also help people in getting hired. There are many job boards and forums where people ask and respond to various questions. You should also participate in such forums because it is the quality of your answers will increase your reputation, which will eventually land you in a decent job, as people are always on the look for a knowledgeable worker.

Blogging

Yes blogging can get you a full-time job as well. A blog does not only help you find a freelance gig, but it also helps you showcase the understanding of your field to the world. And it should not come to you as a surprise that employers love to have employees that are knowledgeable and astute. Your blog demonstrate both to the outside world.

Of the above three sources that we discussed above, blogging is the one which people do not take seriously as a job-search tool. Most of them are quite skeptic about the effectiveness of this tool, which makes it a very rarely used job-search tool. That is why I will suggest using this first.

The US consumers’ perception of the financial services providers was quite low in 2009, which seem to have got back to its 2008 state in April. Even AIG, whose reputation touch the bottom in 2009 during the financial crisis, has also gone up in 2010.

Visa got the highest brand equity score of 65.76, followed by MasterCard whose brand equity score is 60.66. The Hartford with the score 53.40 and Fidelity Investments Financial Services with 53.29 score on brand equity make the bottom two of the report that studies top 10 highest ranked financial services company. See image for detail.

Not only the perception (brand equity) is on the way up, but the trust is also going up on the scale. Although it has not touched even 2008 level, the hope of its speedy recovery can be felt in the report released by Harris Interactive.

In the trust ranking, TIAA-CREF Financial Services ranked at number one with a trust score of 6.64, and at number two is Vanguard Group with a trust score of 6.55. Visa is at number 3 with the total score of 6.6. The Hartford which was at number 9th position in terms of brand equity has fared relatively well on the trust quotient. It is on number 5 with a trust score of 6.39. See image for detail.

Use direct message or DM, as it is known on twitter

Do not start sending confidential or sensitive information on the twitter’s public timeline using @ symbol. This is akin to taking someone’s bedroom talk to nearest pub. No one is going to like it, and you by doing so are risking your reputation. Instead, send sensitive or personal information in a direct message. Send your résumé link, interview request, etc., in DM only.

Hit Reply

Many a time job seekers do not pay much attention to DMs sent to them, or to the messages sent to them using @ symbol. Always, always, always respond to all direct and indirect messages sent to you. This will paint a picture of a guy who is helpful, friendly, and prompt. These are the traits of an employee that anyone will like to hire.

Count your words before you write

Twitter allows you only 140 characters that also include spaces and special characters, so be wise in the word selection. 140 characters are all you have, and it is on you to decide how you will make each character add to the value your tweet will deliver. Do not use unnecessary superlatives, adjectives, and adverts. I will rather suggest you to stay away from every word that has nothing to add to the discussion.

Go and check your tweets, and DMs to see if your tweets and DMs meet the standard set above or not. Fix them, if they don’t, and continue using twitter the way you do, if you do not find any problem.

What does advertising do?

1. Advertising builds awareness about the product being advertised.
2. It creates recognition for the brand.
3. Reduce the fear of unfamiliarity, and testimonial advertising also works as social proof.
4. It creates, nurture, and build emotional connection between the product and consumer.
5. It provides reason for purchasing a product.
6. It induces trial.
7. It creates top-of-mind awareness for the brand being advertised.
8. A beautifully done ad entertains public and create favorable environment that a marketer to seed the brand message.

What advertising cannot do?

1. It cannot sell a product.
2. It cannot create a loyal customer.
3. It cannot manage a damaged reputation.
4. It cannot build credibility.

It is the latter group of things that have made the advertising so infamous. Well, it is comment time now. What do you think, have advertising worked for your business?

I am narrating here my discussion with him because I want to tell the readers that no matter what, feedback given by your client “about your work” matters a lot. His reaction to your personality may not matter, but for the work you have done for him, it does matter.

Having said that, I must say that your client’s feedback is not the final word on the quality you are able to produce. It is just a reflection of the kind of work you have produced for the client. You need to ask yourself where you have erred, and you should try not to repeat the same mistake again with another client. One feedback may not hurt you, but quite a few will blow a serious dent in your reputation.

How to avoid negative feedback?

1. Ask as many questions as you need to ask in order to understand the full details of the project before you start working on it.
2. Ask for the deadline, and verify if it is realistic or not. If you feel the time frame for the completion of the project is not sufficient tell him that. And also tell him what according to you should be the deadline for the work. Stick to whatever deadline is fixed.
3. In case you need extension, tell him days in advance. Calling him on the last day for extension may give you an extension, but will take away your reputation.
4. Do the best for each of your client. No matter how low or high one is paying. Always remember it was you who accepted the low rate, client did not put gun on your face to do so.
5. Ask for feedback.

Always keep your eyes and ears open, and welcome feedbacks with open arm. This is how you will grow.

Well, being as active as possible is a start.  Having no internet identity can be just as bad as having a negative one.  Employers want to see positive extra curricular activity, and work history.  These are cues to what sort of employee you are, so make sure an interviewer can easily find them.  Be active in professional forums, maintain a personal blog, and keep a professionally oriented social networking page.

Make sure that everything you put out there puts you into a positive light.  Anything you want an employer to see needs to be about creativity, positive, and showcasing commitment and hard work.  Don’t bash old employers and bosses, because that’s a big turn off to anybody interested in you.  In fact, don’t bash anybody, or have anything negative on a page that’s intended to be professional, because it will only show you in a bad light.

But don’t forget, what you put out there is only half the battle.  You need to search your name to see what other people are putting out in relation to your name.  Do a search, see if anything comes up from past employers, or if anything you wouldn’t want a potential employer to see pops up.  Takes steps to correct these, or have them removed from search engines if you’re uncomfortable with the material.  Most of the time places like Google are more than willing to work with you, so long as you’re polite and patient.

Benefits of a checklist

A checklist offers many benefits, and unlike its how-to part, it does not require us to invest lots of time reading it. A checklist offers the following benefits:

• It helps us know what we require to accomplish in order to get the work done before we embark upon.
• It works as a guiding post, when we get stuck in the middle of the project and ask now what.
• A checklist helps us verify if we have missed something in the project.
• A checklist is easily scanable, and it should be kept handy when doing some work, as it will help us remember what needs to be done.
• A checklist can help us properly prepare the budget keeping each item in mind.
• It can prove to be a valuable asset when it comes to making a business decision.

Conclusion

One must keep a checklist handy whenever one embarks upon a new job. As said above, it will prove to be a very valuable tool right from the beginning.

When you’re attempting to set up what could be a long term relationship between your company and a client, one of the first things to remember is to always keep a certain amount of your focus on them.  Never forget about former business associates in your quest to gain new ones, as that will make you stray away from your guaranteed business.  It’s never a good idea to give up a guaranteed client by threatening your relationship with them using a new marketing campaign to attract new clients, that doesn’t focus or apply to them.  Never forget the people that helped you in the past.

One way to end a relationship quick is to make promises you cannot keep, as that’s essentially the same as lying, and nobody wants to be lied to, especially in a business relationship.  Only make commitments to your clients that you know you or your company are capable of keeping/following through.  This way you don’t raise expectations to unrealistic levels from your clients, and you are always given goals that you can achieve, making yourself look all the better to an established clientele.

Always ask for feedback, this way you can learn what a client is expecting from you or your company.  This will also allow you to correct any inadequacies that they may see within your corporation, saving a client that may have gone elsewhere had you been left unaware and unable to fix a problem that they had.

Finally, have fun.  Clients are more likely to stay with a company enjoy the work that they are doing, as it shows a vested interest in the goals that they want you to accomplish.  Nothing shows your willingness to provide a client with their desired outcome, like your desire to do your job.

Close your eyes for a while and think, will you like to do business with the person whom you do not trust? Will you put your hard earned dollars in the hands of a person whose intention is not to help you but just to take money out of your pocket? No, you will not do that! Then why do you expect your customer to behave differently, just because you are on the opposite side of the table? Well, no matter how many times you turn the table, and how many people you bring on the other side of the table, you cannot be successful in making a sustainable customer base.

There is only one golden rule of selling and that is honesty. Be honest and sell only the product your customer needs, not the product your company wants to push to every customer. This is what we call integrity selling. Integrity selling will not only build a reputation for you, but it will also give you a rock-solid foundation made of loyal customers to stand on.

Integrity selling is the only way to maintain a long sustainable base of customers. In order to be successful in applying integrity selling in your business, you genuinely need to believe in solving the customer’s problem. I am saying believing, not feigning to believe, as most sales people do. This is how you can build reputation for yourself and your business. Till the time you are concern with just meeting your target for the month or the quarter, you cannot succeed in winning the hearts of your consumer. You need to win a significant share of customers’ hearts to remain in the business for the long run. Integrity selling is indeed tough, but the return it fetches makes it worth trying. As said, integrity selling will build a long term reputation for you, and the more you practice it the more equity gets deposited to your reputation-bank, which in the long run will mean more business for you.

Let’s think over a very famous quote: you can cheat a few people for a long period of time, you can even cheat many people for a short period of time, but there is no way in which you can cheat everyone (or many people) for the longer period of time, it isn’t possible. If you are salesperson, always remember this and never ever try to sell lie. A lie can help you meet the immediate goal, but it will hurt you badly in the long run. It is always wise to fix your eyes on the long term results, short term results will never last.