LinkedIn and Branding: What's my name!?

I googled my name once or a lot more.  Apparently I make draw concept cars, I was in a movie call DisOrientation, and I take amazing wedding photos.  In truth I'm much more boring than that.  Nothing came up in my google search about an aspiring programmer named Andrew Sheffield who is just trying to get his Computer Science degree at San Jose State University.  That is, until now.  I recently googled my name once more and behold, the top result!  For those to lazy to click that link, that is a linked in page that displays me, the one true Andrew Sheffield, at the top of the list.  This little adventure into my digital me got me thinking.

When an employer types your name in google, and I honestly can not see a scenario where they wont, what will they find? What do you want them to see? Davidhallsocialmedia.com conducted a study and discovered that 92% of employers search online for details about their potential employees.  LinkedIn is the perfect location to get your name out there, while supplying the appropriate information.

In this digital age resumes make less and less sense.  Why look through countless pages of data that may or may not be accurate, when you can just get online and search for the information you need.  wbaltv.com says that the number one choice of employers to find candidates in LinkedIn.  With the ease of filling out a few forms on LinkedIn.com you can be one step closer to employment discovery.

I am not at the top of a google search if employers do decide to "stalk" me online and I think that is fantastic.  And when they do stumble upon my profile they will see only the best experience, schooling (shout out to SJSU) and skills that can be had.  Check it out for yourself: linkedin.com/in/andrewsheffield.

QR Code: Stop making people type!

I picked up my phone and noticed my girl friend had sent me a text.  I slide the screen up on my sweet samsung slide phone to reveal a number pad.  Using, my opposable thumbs I "quickly" jammed out a reply.  An elderly man behind me noticed my rapidly working thumbs and exclaimed "I don't understand how you kids do that!"  I chuckled and thought to myself how silly this old man was.  I never thought I'd see the day when I became annoyed at the time it took to type on a normal keyboard.  With the advances of smart phones and the copy and paste, I find myself wanting quicker and faster ways of transferring information.  In todays world everyone and everything has a webpage, email address, Facebook, Twitter and the list goes on.  What if, and I'm just reaching here, what if our phones could read the information and take us to those locations without any typing?  How awesome would that be?  And thus,viola, QR Codes!

According to Statisticbrain.com the average attention span of a human person is 8 seconds long.  That means if a user has to type out something long or read to much they may lose interest in the information.  So we have made a flyer with some awesome logos, the text pops and the user is drawn in and becomes interested in the information, next we need to have a way for the user to return to the information when they need and perhaps the ability for the user to collect more info if needed.  QR Code readers do both of these things.  A user can quickly hold up a cell phone and collect the address of the page with out much pause.  Code readers can store the data for later or take the user to the site.

Scanlife.com says that 39% of young adults have a scanned a QR Code at some point.  As this becomes larger and as people start collecting more data by QR Code, it will become more necessary to add them to your site, business card and advertisements.

And the best news is...it's free, easy AND takes up a small amount of real-estate!  http://goqr.me is my favorite place to create a QR Code and youtube.com can teach how to edit them and make them look cool!

In your next flyer try adding a QR code and see if anyone tries it.  You may just be saving some sweet, young teenager, who someday has dreams of becoming a thumb wrestler.

Social Networking and security. . .or lack of when promoting your brand.

Social media is a great tool that allows its users to communicate, share and build community quickly, easily and over great distances.  Because of the great benefits in can provide users at no cost, it allows for a constant stream of data and connections that can be made by people and companies to promote their brand.  Facebook, as an example, allows users to make ads that can be pointer to specific groups, interests, locations, searches, ages and the list goes on.  All of the information can be extremely helpful and useful in promoting a product and service but it is also now available for anyone and everyone to find and exploit.

The chart by Barracuda Networks shows the problems that users most experience as a result of joining social networks.  Although, this may seem scary and overwhelming, the things you can do to protect yourself is quite simple.

You can begin by creating a Professional identity.  Create a new email address and new accounts for every site you wish to be apart of.  This will allow you to start fresh and know that you haven't yet entered compromising data into these site.  Then ensure you do control the information that goes into these sites. Keep it limited to your email address and PO box if mail is necessary.  If you have to send a phone number make sure you are not publishing  the number for all to see and you that you trust the recipient of the number.

Secondly, don't fall victim to phishing scams.  Identity thieves will send emails or messages within social media sites that look and seem official.  These messages are intended to trick you into sending your information back to them.  These scams are easily bypassed if you know what to look for.  These emails and messages are rarely if every sent by an actual company.  Its always a good idea to not click any links inside these messages, even if they are official.  I go straight to the site and log in as normal.

Lastly, I like to start fresh whenever I switch from doing anything person to anything professional.  I usually reboot my computer, log-in under a different account and ensure I write everything carefully and with much thought.

With all of the technology available it is becoming easier and easier for thieves to steal identities.  And once it is stolen, your professional and financial lives can be destroyed.  It is our responsibility to protect ourselves and ensure we can coexist in this social, online world.