Websterism - Big Ideas. Small Budgets.

3 Reasons To Add A Photo To Your LinkedIn Profile

9 Mar 2010

LinkedIn has been around for about eight years now and has grown to become a valuable networking and job search tool. Though it is technically a social network, there are still too many people who treat it differently, almost as if it were just a resume database. This is evidenced by how many people still haven’t uploaded a photo to their profile.

There are various excuses as to why people haven’t included a photo. The most common seems to be that it could become a point of discrimination for a recruiter, as it reveals your ethnicity and approximate age. Since these would all be obviously revealed when they meet you in person, it shouldn’t be much of a concern.

There are many reasons to make sure you include an appropriate headshot with your profile. This could be a long list, so I’ll focus on just three reasons.

1. You will instantly stand out from the crowd.
LinkedIn includes the profile photo in all searches, messages, and job inquiries. About 40% of LinkedIn profiles don’t have a photo on their profile. So by adding one, your profile would already stand out above nearly half of all other users.

2. It adds personality and authenticity to your profile.
Giving users too much creative control over profiles can lead to disaster (MySpace, anyone?), so most popular social networking sites use a standardized look and feel for all user profiles. This means that your photo is the only opportunity you have to visually differentiate your profile from others. A photo-less profile looks cold and sterile. And though it sounds obvious, a photo shows that your profile represents a real person.

3. It creates a sense of visual recognition.
People react more openly to familiar faces than unknown ones. It is hardwired in our brains, a remnant from a time when recognizing faces was an important part of survival. When a recruiter, potential employer, or professional contact sees your photo on LinkedIn, their brain will consider you “familiar” when they meet you in person, causing them to drop their guard a bit.

LinkedIn considers adding a photo a requirement for your profile to be considered 100% complete. There is a reason for this: It makes your profile more effective.

If you don’t have one, go find a professional-looking headshot of yourself and update your profile now.

Tags: LinkedIn

A Business Lesson Learned From Working at the NBA

Topics: career

2 Mar 2010

On his blog today, Seth Godin introduced us to the Italian word sprezzatura, which means “being able to do your craft without a lot of visible effort.” While I agree this is a valuable and remarkable trait, it’s too often unappreciated in the corporate world.

Many years ago I worked for the National Basketball Association, and a remark made about our players stuck with me, as it applies to all of us.

“When someone is really good at something, they make it look easy.”

When you watch LeBron or Kobe make a shot, it looks easy. It doesn’t show the years of the practice, the hours of training, and the natural ability the goes into making that game-winning basket. The same holds true in the corporate world.

When you know what you’re doing, you shouldn’t be stressed out all the time. You shouldn’t be yelling at others. And you shouldn’t have to be the last one in the office everyday. When you’re good at what you do, whether it’s designing websites, writing legal briefs, or closing sales, there should be a certain grace and ease that comes along with practicing your craft. You should also be enjoying yourself, because after all, who doesn’t enjoy the feeling of being good at something.

The insecurity of being unable to perform amid expectations can lead to bad behavior. I’m sure we’ve all known a boss or executive who was always in a foul mood AND was known to be bad at his job.

So the next time it looks like someone isn’t working hard, maybe they’re just a master of their craft. And the next time someone seems to be working hard, burning the midnight oil, maybe they just don’t know what they’re doing.

It’s important to be able to spot the difference.

Tags: Seth Godin

4 Reasons Seth Godin Needs to Appear on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Sign the Petition!)

Topics: ideas| marketing

24 Feb 2010

Every now and then a book will stick with you. Its message will strike a nerve deep inside and alter the way in which you view the world. Such literary experiences are rare, but I had one recently. The author was Seth Godin, and the book was Linchpin.

Up until now, Seth’s books have been primarily marketing-focused and were written for a business audience. But Linchpin is different. It’s core message is about life, art, and career. While I don’t think the central message is to be followed by everyone, I believe that it should be shared with as large a group as possible.

Seth used a novel promotion strategy for this book and has relied mostly on bloggers and the online world to spread the message. But I think it’s time he makes a visit to the old-media world of television. Specifically, I think he should appear on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Here’s why:

1. The Linchpin Message is Important
The book does a great job articulating the changes that we have all felt happening around us over the last few years. And it nails the inner struggle we all feel between having ideas and acting on them. I truly believe this book has the power to change people’s lives by shifting the way they view their career. Every working stiff who is unhappy with the 9-to-5 should hear what he has to say. And many of them have (sadly) never heard of Seth Godin. Yet.

2. The Daily Show Audience is Well-Suited for the Linchpin Message
Every night, nearly two million viewers tune-in to The Daily Show. They tend to be younger and more educated than most news program audiences. And according to a recent Yale study, they are fairly liberal and hold relatively progressive viewpoints. The call-to-arms outlined in Linchpin would resonate with such an audience, who would also be well-positioned to actually make these types of changes to their career (and lives).

3. The Interview Would be Entertaining
Both Godin and Stewart are extremely well-informed and quick on their feet. Seeing an exchange between the two of them would be great television. And I think Jon Stewart would be a big supporter of what Seth is advocating.

4. It Would Be Remarkable
An appearance by Seth Godin on The Daily Show would definitely qualify as a Purple Cow. Seth rarely, if ever, makes these types of mainstream appearances and I suspect there is a sizable overlap between the two audiences. It would also set the online world on fire, and would be mentioned on countless blogs and tweets.

Think this is a great idea? Then sign the petition. Let Seth Godin know he should continue to spread the word!

(THE PETITION IS NOW CLOSED)

Tags: linchpin, Seth Godin

Challenge the Status Quo, Change the World

Topics: ideas

1 Feb 2010

Exactly 50 years ago today, four college students sat down to eat lunch. And changed the world.

On February 1, 1960, these young black men walked into a Woolworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina, and took seats at the whites-only lunch counter. Denied service, they refused to budge and left only when the store closed at the end of the day. The next day they were back with 27 more students. Within four days, 300. And soon, 1000.

Similar sit-ins starting popping up throughout the state, then all over the South. It spread from lunch counters to buses and parks and other public places. The media started to write about it. Government officials took notice. Combined with the brave actions of others in the Civil Rights Movement, momentum continued to build. Within four years, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 officially put an end to segregation in public places.

One of the men, Franklin McCain, recalled:

“Fifteen seconds after … I had the most wonderful feeling. I had a feeling of liberation, restored manhood. I had a natural high. And I truly felt almost invincible. Mind you, [I was] just sitting on a dumb stool and not having asked for service yet,” McCain says.

Source: npr.org

Coming up with the idea of a sit-in wasn’t brave. Actually doing it was.

When the status quo is challenged, not just with ideas but with action, great things can happen.

The Question Not Enough People Ask Themselves

Topics: career| entrepreneur| lifestyle design

28 Jan 2010

We spend a lot of time talking about WHAT we want.

Some people want a new job. Others want a new website. Still others want better employees.

But not enough people ask WHY they want these things. When you ask why it is you think you want something, you might find out that it still wouldn’t get you what you’re really looking for.

“I want a new job.”
Why? Do you feel you’re not valued where you are? Do you think you aren’t paid enough? Are the hours too long? If the answer to WHY is that you want to feel valued, make more money, and have more control over when and where you work, maybe doing the same thing for a different company isn’t the answer.

“I want a new website.”
Why? Is nobody visiting your current site? Does it constantly crash? Is it full of out-of-date information? Maybe you need a marketing strategy to drive traffic to your site. Or to make sure someone in your organization is responsible for keeping it up and running, and frequently updated. Spending the money to give your site a facelift might not solve any of your problems.

“I want to hire better employees.”
Why? Do your current employees have a bad attitude? Do they produce poor-quality work? Do they lack motivation? Maybe the problem is the culture within your company. Perhaps people feel mistreated or taken advantage of. Maybe they aren’t properly trained. Or maybe your hiring process selects the wrong candidates to begin with. Perhaps changing the approach your company takes towards hiring and managing people is a better option.

We all think we know what we want, but until we dive into the reasons WHY we want these things, we still be stuck in a vicious cycle, doomed to repeat our mistakes and never fixing the problems we already have.

Older Entries

3 Reasons To Add A Photo To Your LinkedIn Profile

A Business Lesson Learned From Working at the NBA

4 Reasons Seth Godin Needs to Appear on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Sign the Petition!)

Challenge the Status Quo, Change the World

The Question Not Enough People Ask Themselves

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