Promote Yourself (15 page)

 

• Manage Twitter and the rest of your social networks. Tools like TweetBeep and HootSuite make this pretty easy by putting all your social media together in one place.

 

•
SocialMention.com
allows you to see what people are saying about you and topics you care about in real time.

The goal of producing all this content is to get more visibility in search engines. The more content you post, the higher you'll be in search engine rankings and the quicker you'll appear when people search for your name or the topics that you're commenting on. But you can't just create content and put it out there. You have to drive people to it because clicks also raise rankings. The more people click open your content, the quicker you'll show up in searches. So every time you post new content, use all your platforms—your Web site, blog, social media accounts, and so on—to send people to it.

 

Staying Current: Update, Update, Update!

Up until now, we've been talking about
creating
content. But creating content is just the beginning. Equally important is
managing
it, because your content is only as good as it is current. And in the online world, where news spreads like wildfire, content is constantly changing, and new experts are constantly demanding your eyeballs, current means
an hour ago, today, yesterday,
or at the very latest last week. If you're posting information about what you did four years ago, if you haven't updated your blog and profiles
this week,
you're a dinosaur and you'll lose visitors. And search engines will reflect that. When you refresh your pages and include the latest information, Web crawlers will notice and your sites will rise in the rankings. Search engine results typically include the date the post was written. Some people have a cutoff—they'll skip over anything that's more than a week, or a month, or a year old. Others don't care. As a result, it's getting kind of trendy these days to leave off the date from posts. The main reason is that it gives the impression that what you're writing is more recent than it is. This is something to consider if your content truly is evergreen and you aren't able to update your site with new content very often. But be careful because having a post that looks like it's hot news but refers to past events in the present tense can really reduce your credibility.

Every morning I wake up and go through online feeds. I spend one to two hours reviewing a thousand news feeds looking for information about my world. The time I spend pays me back in spades. Every day I have loads of information to offer the people following me online—and they appreciate my daily tips. I update my presentations minutes before I give them because otherwise they're obsolete. New data will have surfaced since the last time I gave a talk. I walk into meetings and can speak with authority about the latest trends in my industry. My colleagues know they can rely on me for current data. And because I organize the data as soon as I find it, I can find it again quickly—saving me time later when I need it for creating content.

So I recommend that you do something similar. Get up an hour earlier and scour the news feeds in your industry. Can't give it an hour? Then do a half hour. Whatever works for you. But the more time you invest, the more info you'll find that will help you stay current. Here are a few more recommendations that will help keep you and your content fresh and relevant:

 

• Make sure that all the information posted about you is up to date. It should reflect your latest project and your latest thinking, not what you were doing and thinking six months ago. For instance, as you progress in your career, ensure that your LinkedIn profile and blog bio remain updated and consistent with your new position and accomplishments.

 

• Make sure your keywords and tags are current. Trends change, ideas sizzle and die. Make sure your content and keywords reflect the latest thinking in your field so that people can find you when they search.

 

• Develop a schedule with monthly update reminders. Use a paper calendar, mobile calendar, Google Calendar, or any other tool that works for you. The most important thing to do is to actually do it.

 

The Net Is for Networking

It may not be your parents' workplace anymore but some things haven't changed. And one of them is this:
It's not what you know, it's who you know.
Today, as much as ever, it's people—more than résumés—that open doors.

What
has
changed is the number of people you have access to. Thanks to the Internet, you can now network with tons of people who can help you locate opportunities, connect you with the people hiring, write references, and put in a good word. It's truly a global village when it comes to career advancement. Companies are looking worldwide for talent and they're using the Web to do it, which means that even to advance inside your company, you're competing against global talent. You need to use the Net to do it.

Your online content will help show that you're the best person for the job. Your online networking will get that content in front of the people who count.

CREATE AN ONLINE RÉSUMÉ.
   High-potential employees are always looking for the next opportunity—the next challenge in the company that's a perfect match with their skill sets and experience. That means you need to have a résumé ready at all times—a résumé that's dynamic, full of links that show your expertise, and absolutely up to date. Say good-bye to that static Microsoft Word document you used in the past. Today's compelling résumés are online. In fact, your LinkedIn profile with its links to your multimedia content is exactly the résumé you need.

*   *   *

So now go back through your LinkedIn profile and make sure to:

 

• Brand yourself as an expert, not merely an employee. Don't just post your job description; describe your experience and expertise. What are you really good at? What have you accomplished? What benefits do you offer your employer?

 

• Ask current and former managers, team members, and clients for testimonials, along with permission to post them online. Be clear with them about the purpose of the posting. If your current manager and coworkers think you're trolling for a new job, they may not want to advertise you to their competitors. Let them know your goals and how your profile will help you achieve them, and why having their comments is an asset. If they're at all uncomfortable, let it go.

 

• Link to your Web site, blog, YouTube videos, and any other professional content so you create a dynamic, three-dimensional portrait.

WITH WHOM SHOULD YOU NETWORK? START INSIDE YOUR COMPANY.
   Managers are always looking to recruit, even if there aren't jobs open. So use online networks and your company intranet to connect with people in other departments (two thirds of major companies now use internal Web 2.0 tools such as blogs and social networks). Those connections can help you learn about jobs before they're open and keep you top of mind when managers are hiring. Ask yourself, “Who in my company can help me advance?” Then look for links to those people. Have you heard about a project you'd like to work on? Use your network to connect with the manager in charge. Hope to work in another department? Ask a mutual contact to introduce you on LinkedIn and include links to relevant content you've created.

Before you reach out this way, though, speak to your own manager. The last thing you want is to go behind their back. Instant bad karma! Instead, talk to them about your goals. If you haven't already discussed your personal development plan with them, do it now. Tell them what you hope to achieve at your company and ask for advice on how to achieve it. Ideally, they can help you plot a path through the organization by defining projects and departments that will give you the experience and credentials you need. They can also help you with networking. Once they know your goals, they can connect you with relevant people and give you advice on the best ways to approach them. Why would your manager offer this support—especially if you're a valuable employee? If they're a good manager, they'll support your quest because it supports their own goals. For their own advancement they need to grow talent and grow the company, so when you shine, they shine too. That's why—if you've got a good manager—they can be your best ally for advancement. Of course, as we discussed in Chapter 1, not all managers are that open-minded. Some are threatened by their employees' growth, or fear losing their top talent. They won't facilitate your development plan and won't offer networking support. If you have this kind of manager, then you'll have to limit what you share. Talk only about your goals within the department. Do very little networking so your manager doesn't think you're looking for another job. Meanwhile, look for another manager or department you'd like to work for. You can't advance if you've got a manager who's holding you back.

EXTERNAL NETWORKING: BUILDING YOUR EXPERTISE.
   Even if your goal is to rise to the top of your current company, you should be networking outside the organization. For one thing, you never know where a lead will come from. Someone outside the organization may hear of a project or opportunity in another department of your company before you do. More importantly, networking isn't just about opportunity shopping. It's about building your skills and knowledge. The world is full of people who know more about your area than you do, who can be teachers or mentors and help you grow. So seek them out. When you find blogs or articles you like, see if you and the authors have any network contacts in common; see if you can arrange an introduction. Then ask them questions about the articles they've posted. Ask if you can run an idea by them or if they'd be willing to critique an article of yours before you post it. It may seem intimidating to approach an expert this way, but the fact is, most people enjoy mentoring others who show genuine interest. If you're gracious, appreciative, and respectful of their time, the experts you contact may be pleased you've made the effort, and you may be on your way to finding a professional mentor.

 

LinkedIn: Your Chief Network Builder

Once you've imported your own contacts into the application, check out Network Statistics under the Contacts tab in the upper toolbar. You'll probably see that you have access to over a million other people through your contacts' contacts! If you want that number to grow even more, you can search for colleagues, college classmates, and anyone else you think you'd like to connect with. And take a look through the LinkedIn-generated People You May Know suggestions. Every person you add to your network has a network of people who may be helpful as you advance your career.

Also add to your LinkedIn database by asking your previous and current managers for recommendations and introductions, and by joining industry groups listed under the Groups tab. If you have an iPhone, download the LinkedIn CardMunch app. It automatically turns a photo of a business card into a LinkedIn contact. Use it whenever you attend an event or grab a new person's card.

KNOW WHEN TO GO FACE-TO-FACE.
   Online connections are great, but there are times when face time is necessary and preferred. If your boss is more comfortable in the handshake world than online, ask in person if it's okay to connect on LinkedIn. When you discuss your development plan with your boss, and when you ask for an intro to another manager, do it in person so you can fully discuss your reasons. If a person you hope to meet is a bit old-school, ask your introducer to arrange a face-to-face meeting rather than a LinkedIn introduction. The Internet provides a host of tools for making connections but they're not always the most appropriate ones for the job.

CULTIVATE YOUR INFLUENCE.
   Online networking isn't just about meeting people. It's also about influence, about how you impact the people you meet, and what happens as a result. Yes, you want people following your tweets and blog posts; but even more you want them forwarding those posts to others. Yes, you want people reading your comments and articles; but more than that you want them quoting you in their conversations. You want them thinking of you as a valuable source of ideas and information, as an expert. Acquiring that kind of influence takes years, not days. It means committing to producing and monitoring content frequently and long-term. But the payoff is huge. The more people value your output, the larger your network grows, the more opportunities will open up. The more you'll take control of your career.

 

Use Video to Promote Your Expertise

Even if the idea of standing in front of a camera makes you stressed out, don't write off YouTube as a way to build your brand. You can put your
ideas
front and center and bring them to life. Have you finished a successful project at work? Are you a whiz at CRM? Do you frequently get compliments on your PowerPoints? Use your own or company photos, PowerPoint slides, clip art, and Web images (get permission for anything that's not yours), and edit them together using one of the free video editing programs available. Add a two- to three-minute script (that's all most people will watch) and you'll have a promo video ready for YouTube without your own blushing presence.

Keep in mind that you don't have to be in
front
of the camera to use video to build your brand. Brian Halligan, CEO of HubSpot, told me a great story about a woman who used video to turn a summer internship into a full-time job. “We hired Rebecca as a summer intern after her junior year at BU. Her task was to create our first viral video. She took a very unusual approach by taking an Alanis Morissette song and turned it into an inbound marketing song that ended up tipping on YouTube. The video did so well, we hired her after she graduated.”