CareerZine

Crowd Sourcing and Personal Branding

Crowd Sourcing  is the appropriation and using of other people’s information that is either freely given or available typically from the Internet or a public program.  The entity that uses the information makes money off doing so while the provider of the information doesn’t.   This has worked to the benefit of many when times were good and prosperous, but now that the economy is on a downward trajectory, it can be a negative. Crowd Sourcing in a recession can become a formidable competitive tool. 

In an information, Internet economy, we are competing with our ideas, concepts and creations.  What do you do when professionals in your field, Crowd Source your models, information and ideas to use and market to a shared customer base or to help themselves get a job in your field?  It is constantly done in the workplace among teams and colleagues.  How many times have co-workers taken credit for your ideas?   Has a colleague ever borrowed your materials and ideas to their own benefit?

We are all knowledge-based business professionals. That's what we sell to companies when we interview for a job or to our clients to get their business.  They hire you for the bright ideas, innovation, fresh approaches, in-depth experience, and actionable insights that you bring to the table.   Yes, it can be frustrating when others, chasing the same business, Crowd Source your content to gain a competitive advantage.

But, that’s the nature of the game today as our economy circles the drain. Everyone is looking for that edge, that competitive advantage, that unique value proposition or business solution. There is no point in railing against the gods as we are all commodities now even if we are expert commodities.  The only way to defend against being Crowd Sourced, mob raped, or singly screwed is to do as follows:

• Build your brand as fast and as broadly as you can using all the Social Networking and Social Media tools at your disposal: blog and podcast, tweet on Twitter, link on Linkedin, friend on Facebook,  YouTube yourself

• Keep evolving your brand to stay unique and differentiated as the job market changes and as customer business needs change, not to mention as your competitors catch up with you

• Decide on and become known for a specific niche, twist or style of a service delivered otherwise you will be lumped in with the herd and that herd is starting to look more and more unemployed which in itself is commoditizing feature.

If you execute well on all of the above, then others Crowd Sourcing from you are simply paying homage. May the best brand win!

Speaking of Expertise:
Since 2002 I have been immersed in Social Networking and Social Media.  In 2003, I  consulted to the CEO of Linkedin on how to make it a job seeker friendly tool.  I have expert level understanding about how to apply Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, and other Social Media to job searching, career changing, and professional advancement inside and outside your company.  
 
What does that mean for you?
Well I can help you promote your talents, qualities and expertise using online branding and networking better than any other career coach around,  for now.

For a free consult email: admin@careercompany.com

The Top Job Search Panic Pitfalls

     Recessions and market crashes can play upon the nerves of any executive making decisions and actions in a panic mode.  Career management  becomes a route instead of an informed, well modulated, thorough and patient process that reaches the targeted goal.  
We can sabotage ourselves when seeking new employment without realizing it out of panic, fear and knee jerk reactions.

Here are some of the top panic, pitfalls to avoid: 

• To expedite our search, we pay several thousand dollars for a costly service that mass markets our resume or letter of credentials to tens of thousands of companies by mail and email yielding the same percentage of results as any direct marketing campaign while commoditizing your image.

• Mistakenly thinking that we have a better chance of being hired if a company doesn’t have to pay a search fee, we fail to develop valuable relationships with executive search consultants who often can provide key insights and perspective on the marketplace as well as an interview opportunity.

• Avoiding change, we update the same resume template that we have used for decades without regard to how bad it looks on-line or the dated image it projects.

• Concerned about omitting important career successes and achievements, we insist on including positions that go back 25 + years showing companies that no longer exist, obsolete products and technologies or we build an overdone list of key words and job functions at the top of our resume that leaves us truly undifferentiated.  

• At the first sign of a job search, we call up and burn through all our great contacts without a focused goal or we proceed to wear out our welcome with the best contacts by continually checking in with them to see if anything has come up.

• We do the minimum job on our linkedin profile and then we wonder why recruiters aren’t calling and nobody accepts our requests.

• Most of our time at networking events is spent at the buffet, the bar, finding a parking place or in a corner.

• We assiduously push our needs, wants, and desires onto any unsuspecting contact we meet without first building a viable  relationship with the person.

• Contact business cards become drawer lining as we forget to follow up with people we can’t remember meeting in the first place. 

Some lessons we learn the hard way, others can be simply checked off one at a time. Career coaching can steer you away from all of the above and towards ways to leverage your assets, talents and time to land the next great gig.

 Email us for a free career evaluation: admin@careercompany.com. Find out how we can help you avoid the list and move successfully to your next opportunity.

Regards,

Patti Wilson