Social Media Users Beware!

Are you in the market for a new job? Do you have a few social media accounts? Do those accounts reflect your work ethic in a positive light? Do you think a prospective employer would find anything…um…unfavorable in any of your profiles? If you’ve answered “yes” to one or more of these questions, keep reading. Hiring managers are looking for you online so you’d better be certain what they find won’t compromise your chances of landing that job.

Social media profiles can provide quite a bit of information that you may or may not want others to see, such as professional credentials, career objectives, maturity and judgement, abuse of drugs or alcohol and current employment status. A recent CareerBuilder survey found that more than half of all responding hiring managers accessed potential candidates social media profiles during the hiring process.The information that they found that actually encouraged them to hire a candidate was a profile that proved they were a good “fit” with the company and supported the applicants professional qualifications, as well as showed the candidate as a well-rounded and creative individual with strong communication skills.

However, a higher number of hiring managers surveyed admitted they discovered information that resulted in their decision not to hire the candidate. This information included inappropriate photos or postings, trash talking previous employers, co-workers and/or clients, discussions of drinking and drug use and making discriminatory comments. Poor communications skills was another “red flag.” Granted, when trying to get a point across in 140 characters or less, grammar will suffer. But the lesson here is what you put out there can come back to haunt you.

Special care must be taken by hiring managers when accessing a social media profile. Information about a job candidate that can not be used in the hiring process is information such as their race, religion, national origin, age, pregnancy status, marital status, disability, sexual orientation and genetic information, all of which can be found in a social media profile. To get around this, hiring managers may elect to have someone not involved in the decision-making to review the profiles. Also, not all information obtained online is reliable. That’s a given. So hiring managers are taking precautions to avoid invasion of privacy issues, as well as moving through the application review process without jeopardizing any discrimination laws.

Rule of thumb: In this world now inundating with social media, if you are trying to make a good impression, realize it begins online. Make sure you’re presenting yourself online the same way you would sitting across the desk from the person that could offer you that next incredible job. When we joined the social media revolution, we gave up our rights to privacy. If we want to continue to socialize and belong to the enormous internet community that we now call our “friends,” be smart and keep it clean.

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First Impressions Make the Difference

It’s a lesson we learned as children. To make new friends. Make a good first impression. Going in for a job interview. Make a good first impression. Going out on a date. Make a good first impression. The first impression is what sticks. This is especially true when you begin to promote a new business. Make a good first impression. It’s what your potential target audience will remember.

First things first, if your website isn’t where you want it to be, the last thing you want to do is promote it. A potential client may visit it, see a lack of quality and immediately question your ability to provide them quality service. Good design is not an unnecessary expense. It really makes the difference. Think about some of the websites you’ve been on. If you get to the homepage and see a beautiful site, nicely designed, pleasing graphics, soothing colors, I bet you think “Wow. What a nice site. I’m sure they are just as professional as the site suggests they are. High attention to detail and quality. I want to see more.” Next, recall a site you landed on and saw errors on the site, no design, bland colors, bad imagery, bad everything. What were your thoughts of that business? High-quality? Attention to detail?

See what I mean?

Does your site say “Look at me! I provide high-quality service!” or does it say “Hey. I kinda know what I’m doing.” If it’s the latter, consider hiring a professional designer to make the first impression a memorable one, and one that will pull in business. Let your site be a window into your professionalism and talent. Stand out with a good first impression.

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Self-promotion through blogging

Well,  as I sat down to write this blog, I decided to start by explaining the thought process behind this decision to become a blogger. It’s not as if I’m looking for something to do with all the free time I have. As a mother of 3, trying to build a freelance business and actively involved in my community, free time is one thing I don’t have an abundance of. I needed to find ways to get the word out. “I’m here in an office in my basement and I want to work!”

As with everything, I turned to Google. I wanted to market myself and (hopefully) find more work. I love to work. I need the creative stimulation. (Side note: As a stay-at-home mom, creative stimulation is not a big part of my day. Unless you count the creative ideas I’ve employed teaching my toddler how to pee in a toilet.) Thankfully, I stumbled on the site www.allgraphicdesign.com and found a list of self-promotion ideas for freelancers (http://www.allgraphicdesign.com/graphicsblog/2007/11/120-self-promotion-ideas-for-graphic-designers-freelancers-free-or-almost-free/). Mid-way through the list, I saw “Start & Write an Informative Blog“. According to the site, blogging is one of the most effective forms of self-promotion. Really? Effective and free?? I had to check it out.

I went to WordPress.com, decided on a template and started to create what would become this site. I learned from the article that there is more to creating my blog than customizing the header image. They suggest utilizing SEO tactics, such as (the list below is taken from the article):

  • Domain Name with Keywords – Try to purchase a domain name that has your number one keyword in it…such as flyergraphicdesign.com … just don’t be spammy about it.
  • Search Engines Like Text – Flash sites are beautiful but search engines like text more than images. Try to utilize a design that considers both SEO and beauty.
  • Use Meta Tags – Meta Title, Meta Description, and Meta Keywords. Meta Title is the most important.
  • Utilize Header Tags – Use header tags in your content to emphasize the important headers within your articles.
  • Create Great Content – It is important to also make sure that some of your most important keywords are within your articles. However, you must place these keywords naturally within the article. You aren’t trying to be scammy about it, you just need to make sure that the search engines can recognize your article for what it is.
  • Link to Other Similar Blog Articles – Link to other similar blog articles for trackbacks (blogs normally links back to any blog that links to them)
  • Post Helpful Comments on Other Blogs – Make sure to visit similar blogs and post helpful comments to lead people back to your blog.
  • Add Your Blog to Blog Directories – Add your blog to blog directories as well as search engines.
  • Add Social Bookmarking Buttons – Add social bookmarking buttons such as digg and stumbleupon to your articles.
  • Ping. Make sure to ping blog directories.
  • Technorati. Claim your blog at technorati.com and place technorati tags on all of your articles.

Alright, so I haven’t done everything yet. As I said, finding free time for myself is hard to come by most days. But, I know where this is headed and I’ll be there soon.

But wait, there’s more. I also found an article online titled “10 Blogging Tips for 2009 to Make It Your Most Successful Blogging Year Ever” written by Yuwanda Black (http://www.bloggingtips.com/2008/12/31/10-blogging-tips-for-2009-to-make-it-your-most-successful-blogging-year-ever/). Ms. Black suggests going back to basics, such as posting regularly, using plugins, posting from experience, write well (uh, well…), market the blog, use a clean design, personalize it and, above all, “don’t give up.”

As I learned, so many things go into managing a successful blog. I’m sure there are many more tips out there. Anyone like to share what’s worked for them?

 

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