Threshold Consulting: It's Your Life, Own It!

So, what are you doing?

I’ve just started using twitter, which bills itself as a “service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?”  Not heard of it? Well, according to Wikipedia, “Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send "updates" (or "tweets" …) to the Twitter website, via …cell phone… instant messaging, or a third-party application such as Twitterrific or Facebook.”

Since signing up, I’ve provided several updates, though nothing profound (after all, you only get 140 characters to work with). On twitter you can “follow” people, organizations, and media outlets. I’ve started following several people, and get to see their updates on my twitter home page. Mostly, I follow people I know, and they follow me. Yet,  I’ve discovered it’s easy to follow people you don’t know – and in some cases, they’ll follow you back!

Why can’t we be friends?

As a career management consultant, I spend a considerable amount of time conducting seminars and coaching people on networking. Among the key points I make are: approach networking as relationship building, establish a rationale for the connection, show genuine interest in the other person, and communicate how you can be relevant and valuable for each other. I also make people aware that these principles become even more powerful when they develop great clarity about their personal brand.

For me, these fundamentals apply not only in building professional relationships but in building relationships in all other parts of one’s life.

So, imagine my reaction when, out of the blue, someone who I don’t know adds me as a Facebook friend and fails to say why. Call it the New Yorker in me, but when someone approaches me out of nowhere, it’s a red flag that says, “walk away.” Yet, on Facebook, I will give a person the benefit of the doubt and look at their profile -- and even google them -- to see what we might have in common and how we might establish a beneficial relationship. When I find little or no information (or information that suggests a hidden agenda), it’s awkward. Okay, this may seem harsh, but the question is: why would I want to open up the details of my personal and professional life to some one I can’t be clear about?

Certainly, there is no shortage of material on Facebook etiquette. Yet, I think it comes down to this: as in life, so on Facebook. By following the rules for successful networking, you make it easier and more attractive to connect.

Cross-posted at The Personal Branding Blog

Andy Warhol Never Imagined the Internet

Andy Warhol, the iconic American pop artist who came to prominence in the 1960s, is perhaps most associated with his Campbell’s soup can paintings. Well, okay, and maybe for getting shot, his Marilyn Monroe prints,  his association with The Velvet Underground, his avant-garde film making, and his association with a diverse array of people including bohemian street people.  He is also well known for saying, in 1968: "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes."

As prescient as his 15 minutes of fame idea has seemed, over the years, it’s clear that Andy Warhol never imagined the internet. Today, in our flatter, faster, Web 2.0 world, it’s possible to become world famous 24 /7! Fame in this sense, however, is defined by Google results that support you in reaching career, business, or even social success.

Now, several online tools and activities make it relatively easy to show up online. For starters, you can sign up for LinkedIn, or for an account on one of several other social networking sites, where you can set up your profile and begin making network connections online. You can also put up your profile on other sites, including naymz.com, zoominfo.com, ziggs.com, or even qalias.com. You can then step up your activity by writing book reviews at amazon.com or barnesandnobel.com. As well, you could comment on blogs of interest – or even start a blog of your own. These are just a few ways to produce searchable online results.

Of course, the critical question is: What do you want to be famous for?

So, before you start to build your online identity, consider what you want to be known for, the audience you’re trying to reach, the value that you deliver to them, and what sets you apart from your competitors. Your online identity should reflect a personal brand that makes you digitally distinct and supports your goals. If you’re getting started, or if you’re not happy with your current results, you can work with a qualified personal branding and online identity strategist to express your brand and develop a web-based strategy to stake your claim to world-wide fame.

Cross-posted at The Personal Branding Blog

Web Portfolios: A Powerful Way to Present Yourself Online

If you’re looking for a way to extend your online visibility for job search, you may want to consider a web portfolio. More than a simple online resume, a web portfolio allows you to present information about yourself in a variety of forms, including your profile, your photo, statement of your philosophy, a Q & A about your expertise, highlights of key results, samples of your work, press, and even audio or video clips. In short, anything that best represents your talent and accomplishment to a potential employer.

Until now, you could hire a web designer and developer to create, upload and host your portfolio; or, you could go to specialty firms such as Kirsten Dixson’s Brandego, or Louise Fletcher’s Blue Sky Portfolios for outstanding professional guidance. Recently, Reach Communications colleague, Tara Kachaturoff, discovered another way: VisualCV. At their site, you can sign up for a free account and start building your own web portfolio. The site not only offers ability to add dynamic features to build a case for yourself, but it also gives you control over who sees your portfolio.

I think this could be a great resource, provided you have great clarity about the value you deliver and have crafted key messages to underscore that value. In other words, I think that your first step in creating a web portfolio is to put some work into your personal brand. After all, it’s what you uniquely offer, communicated in a compelling way, that will make you stand out both online and off.

Cross-posted at The Personal Branding Blog

LinkedIn, Facebook, and Online Community

Lately, several people have asked me if they need to be on Facebook, LinkedIn, or both. Certainly each provides the opportunity to build an on-brand, online identity, as well as the ability to connect with others. Yet, for me, there is another important difference: the more personal level of shared experience on Facebook.

I’m on LinkedIn and nearly everyone in my business network is there too – and so are members of their networks. In fact, with yet a third level of relationships, I’m currently connected to 1.9 million “trusted professionals” – who I don’t know! Of course, the real magic of LinkedIn is that if I discover I need to know one of these folks, there is someone I do know, among my first-degree contacts, who can help me connect.

While LinkedIn is a great tool for sharing business information and connections, Facebook is a site where business people can connect to friends and share life experiences that support a richer sense of community.  Since opening my account in January, I’ve enjoyed getting friends’ updates, seeing their photos, learning about things they like, and getting news of their online activities. I also appreciate the level of informality and immediacy on Facebook where I can simply “poke” someone if I want to say “Hi.”

So, should you be on LinkedIn, Facebook, or both? Personally, I think if enriching your relationships online is important to you, then the answer is both.

Cross-posted at The Personal Branding Blog