Nothing makes me cringe more than people choosing to use the very public Internet as their very personal diary. It’s altogether worse when folks don’t realize that is what they are doing.

Exhibit A: young professionals who Tweet drunk photos of themselves, not realizing they’ve perviously set their Twitter feed to autopost to their LinkedIn profile. I’ll not “out” this gal here on FlackRabbit, but I did email her and suggest she take down the unflattering photo perched atop her very impressive skills summary and employer information. Then, I Tweeted about it:

I received a flurry of replies, from folks who wanted to know who the gal was (I’ll never tell!) to the social media savvy who strongly believe streaming your Twitter feed shows future employers and peers that you possess a working knowledge of the Internet.

While I agree that having a visible link to your Twitter account makes good sense, I can’t see the logic in auto-posting my sometimes “unprofessional” thoughts/opinions/beer selections to my “professional” resume. I’d much rather a head-hunter see my skills and work history than my excitement over finally getting to try DC Brau’s Penn Quarter Porter. Which, by the way, is very tasty.

Fortunately–thanks to Twitter hashtag magic–we can Tweet about our beer and appear professional on LinkedIn, too, by displaying only the Tweets that include #in. Here’s how my settings look: Read More…

In this month’s issue of Her Nashville Magazine, I touch on a topic I’m often asked about: how to establish a consistent, relevant voice for your blog.

It took me years to find my blog(s) obsession, tone and style. Along the way, I discovered that while search engines love–and drive many, many random surfers to–my posts about nail polish and Steve Sullivan’s hockey comeback, my actual readers prefer less “stuff I like” and more teachable-geek-and-career-moments. My metrics spoke to me; I listened and adjusted my content accordingly.

If you’ve been blogging for a while, I’d love to hear about how you’ve found and continue to fine-tune your written voice. In the meantime, here’s a teaser from my May column:

Obsession is key.
Pick a topic and make it the only thing you write on and rant about. For example: my FlackRabbit blog is about PR and geek stuff. When folks visit my site, they expect to read about those things and nothing else. I love hockey, but I don’t blog about it. I also love my husband, but never write about married life. When we have kids one day, I will not turn FlackRabbit into a journal about motherhood. If I did any of those things, I’d lose my audience. The plain truth is that hockey, hubby and kiddos aren’t what my readers signed up for and I respect that. Read More…

One reason I’m always pushing folks to lunch with strangers, network and participate in relevant professional PR association events is that you really never know when a person you’ve met will call you and offer up your dream job. Unfortunately, when presented with this option, many of you will turn down the opportunity because you are scared that “changing jobs” after a year or two at your current gig will reflect poorly on your work ethic.

Really? You’re saying “no” to a communications gig custom-made for you because of what others may think? Are you sure you’re in the right profession?

Seriously! You are a PR professional. It’s your job to message this career move on paper, in pixels and in person, not just let it lie out there and hope folks see and value it for what it really is. If you’re moving up with each move, you have nothing to hide! And your future employer has the right to know how you roll; she may truly need a “lifer” and clearly, that ain’t you. It ain’t me either. For PR job-hoppers likes us, transparency and consistency of message are critical.

You can do this. I simply cannot rest thinking there are folks turning down career-advancing jobs out of fear/shame when in fact, job hopping may actually make you a better, more productive employee.

Here are three strategies to consider when messaging your (many) gigs and revamping your resume:

1. If you were recruited, say so. My favorite message/resume trick is to brag on the fact that you were recruited into the position. This aptly addresses the inevitable question “Why did you leave?” right off the bat. Plus, it’s human nature to want a person more when you know he/she is wanted by others.
   
2. Paint a picture of the ladder you’re climbing. We’ve been over this before: communicate beyond your title and job description. Really outline the increasingly impressive responsibilities, employees and deliverables you have been assigned with each new gig. The goal is to assure that the first-time reader of your resume can easily interpret this “Changing of the Jobs” as The Steady Rise of Your Career. {Insert trumpet call.}
3. Show confidence in your value and success. It’s important that you and your resume convey 100 percent confidence in your career history and path. If you are going to justify “job hopping,” you’ll not only need to  prove you are movin’ on up each time, you’ll also need to show you leave each employer (and/or client) better than you found it. Stop being so humble. Your resume (and talking points) must communicate that you will bring value to an employer–no matter how long you work in her office. Read More…

On Monday, January 24, 2011, one of my favorite DC Flacks members, Tod Plotkin, is hosting a day-long conference here in Washington, D.C. I’m going and you should, too. What’s Next DC promises a lean, mean, highly-relevant communications conference experience. View speakers and an agenda here.

Here’s the official word from Tod:

“There are no sales commercials masquerading as presentations here, or sleepy Q & A sessions where only 1 of 8 questions apply to your business. What’s Next DC is about brainstorming, case studies, energy, networking, strategy and – best of all – personalized solutions to your company’s most important challenges.

By jamming as much information into the day as possible. We’ll have floating experts in a variety of fields available, so if you hear something you like and want to bounce ideas around right there on the spot, you can! We’ve scheduled group brainstorming/strategy sessions and niche learning sessions where you can discuss your areas of interest and expertise. There will also be an area dedicated solely to networking all day long.”

Just about every major task I do well—or now have an obsession with—stems from a practical lesson learned from my own stunningly horrific error. Which leads me to believe with utmost conviction that failure is a gift. In my December Her Nashville column, you’ll read about one of my more memorable mistakes (hint: pubic and public are not interchangeable, no matter what spell check says) and hear my take on why you should count failure among your blessings this holiday season. Here’s a teaser:

I’m willing to bet that many of your memorable life-lessons are those you learned the hard way. Whether it involved starting a small business, sports competitions, your first marriage, email etiquette or child rearing, haven’t we all experienced complete failure? Public mistakes and embarrassing moments make for unforgettable, priceless clarity.

But if failure is frequently beneficial, why do we fear it? Why are we motivated by “inspirational” phrases like Robert Schuller’s “What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” And don’t forget about the (too) often quoted, “Failure is not an option.” Read More…

If you enjoy my endless loop of pep talks and guinea pigs urgings, you’ll totally love my column in the November issue of Her Nashville magazine. In Try, Try Again, I give you four easy tips on building your geek-confidence. Here’s a teaser:

I’m not sure who started the rumor that only a select few, twenty-something, childless, computer nerds would become the Internet Chosen and that the World Wide Web, Google, Apple and Twitter only understand the needs of these elite Geeks. I don’t know who convinced the tech-challenged masses that they deserve a life of frustration, spammy Hotmail accounts, Zach Morris phones and AOL. But it’s all a dirty lie.

No doubt I can find more than a few IT geeks who fit the Chosen bill, but as a whole, this stereotype doesn’t hold water and only serves to deter the technologically curious. Anyone can be “good” at this stuff. It simply comes down to practice, play, a little self-confidence and the wisdom of crowds. Read More…

Using LinkedIn to seek career guidance and advice from a complete stranger may seem like an odd thing to do, but is totally acceptable and may even lead to your sliding a foot in a door you may have otherwise never known about.

Like most things, there’s a way–and then there’s the more effective way. Before you send a LinkedIn message to an industry pro you admire, make sure you’ve got these three bases covered:

1. Be specific: when seeking useful advice, you must communicate what it is you actually need help with. Lately, more and more folks reaching out to me via LinkedIn are asking for “my thoughts” on social media, PR or a relocation strategy, but don’t really ask me about anything in particular. It drives me nuts. There’s not a lot I can tell you about “living in D.C.” or “Twitter” because there is SO MUCH to tell you. Same goes for how I “feel” about working at X company or “networking.” There’s just too many ways to answer those generic questions, so I end up giving generic, not-at-all helpful answers.

2. Be brief: introduce yourself, explain why you are seeking the connection and what, specifically, you need to know/help with/advice on/are worried about, etc. then, thank the stranger for their time. The end. Read More…