Last Wednesday, I was in China for a meeting with the Procurement department of a large multinational company. The meeting was the final (interrogation) interview before awarding a major global consulting project. The meeting started with pleasantries, then the manager opened her folder, and on the top page was a printout of my LinkedIn profile. Her first comment was, “Why did you shave your mustache?” The picture I have used since my first creation of the account had a mustache and now I do not and it seemed odd to her that I had not updated it.
Her next statement was, “There appears to be a number of gaps in your experience that we need to discuss.” Wondering what dirt they found on me, I asked her to help me understand the gap(s).
During the initial consideration process, procurement had asked me to submit a document outlining similar projects with other large companies. I provided a detailed breakdown of each project, including deliverables, outcomes, and contacts, so they could verify what I submitted. She pulled my document out of the folder, laid it next to my LinkedIn profile, and then commented, “There seems to be a large gap between these two documents.” She was confused as to why I had not listed any of these amazing projects on my LinkedIn profile or why I did not have case studies or any of these projects detailed on my website.
Having been taught how to resist advanced interrogation tactics in the Marine Corps, I paused for a moment. I thought maybe I could just hide behind the “client confidentiality” excuse but opted just to tell the truth that I did not find it necessary and was too busy being hired on my reputation and experience than what my LinkedIn profile listed. I agreed and thanked her for recommending them based on my experience. I did not try to make excuses for not having it and that I have been too busy updating the information, which is true. I realized in that meeting that while I have a good personal brand with people who know me, to those who don’t, I am a ghost or at least do not project my real depth of experience.
I also had to submit several other documents for this project, including a CV. I only needed a CV for academic conferences and a resume for my first and only job working for someone when I left the Marine Corps in 1991. They also required copies of each of my University diplomas—I had not seen them since graduation day and did not even know what box they were in. I was being retained as a consultant, not an employee.
They wanted me to provide links or copies of prior articles and any other published works and presentations related to global business transformation. I later realized I had a list of them in the first edition of my book Search Engine Marketing Inc. but not the second or third editions.
One of their big concerns was the lack of public information on my global training experience. Part of this project is a large-scale training element to train their managers on how to leverage search marketing. On my site, I listed a number of industry-related conferences I have spoken at but did not list any of my training projects, no videos of my presentation style, and no testimonials from customers. I could imagine her asking if I have any marketing experience at all. Fortunately, all the clients where I did those workshops raved about them. Still, she is correct; I need to add them.
She had several pages of information about me from various Searches where others had written about me and articles where I had referenced different projects. She even congratulated me on receiving the Best Search Consultant Award and getting a Lifetime Achievement Award so young. She wondered how I could get it for being such a non-marketer. I have now realized that my company site had no information about me, and my personal blog I created to link to Google+, had minimal information. This helps explain why a reporter recently referenced me as running Global Search for Ogilvy, a job I have not had for over 10 years, in an article for the global awards for Hreflang Builder. I did not have anything really current.
All of my bios on conference sites were not really detailed and many of my photos I am wearing my Global Strategies brand shirt. Also, a week ago, I read a Keyword Research article by Heather Lloyd-Martin on Biznology and thought her bio at the end was one of the best I had ever seen. In this case, I did get a bit farther and started to create one like hers but did not upload it. It has all of those key highlights that this procurement person told me were missing from my profile. I will finish this on my way back from China.
It was embarrassing to realize that I do nothing to help nurture my profile or ensure that those who have not worked with me can have the same information about me as those who do. They were specifically concerned that I had not linked to any of my articles showcasing my experience in Global Search Program Development and Website Globalization.
In February, I read Mel Carson’s amazing ebook, “Personal Branding.” After reading the book, I did have all of the issues mentioned above as action items, but I did not prioritize time to do/fix them. The most frustrating one was not updating my photos immediately. The mustache was part of my personal brand. Recently, conferences asked me for “speaker” or “keynote” type photos and specific-sized headshots. I either did not have them or they were outdated. As one of the events was in Asia, they wanted a picture of me wearing a jacket and tie.
Had I taken the time, I would have looked much better to these people who need to make a decision to trust someone to make significant changes to their business. I have realized that you do need to maintain and nurture your personal brand at all times and you never know when someone will make a decision based on what they do or, more importantly, do not find about you online so it is critical to keep this information as current and comprehensive as possible.
Fortunately, the recommendation from the engagement manager who had prior experience working with me, a recommendation from their consulting agency, and the fact that I had worked at IBM and Ogilvy all were key factors to my advantage and earned me the face-to-face meeting.
The scary thing is that without the direct feedback from the contacts, I may not have been considered for this project, as I had little information under my control about my experience that would emphasise that I am the best for this type of project.
I have learned valuable lessons from this and started my transformation process. I scheduled the photo shoot and started gathering key project and experience points for large projects, especially outcomes. I have started to clean up and move many of my presentations to my Slideshare account. I will add more to my site and blog with voice-overs to help convey my presentation style. I want to ensure that I have done all I can to make sure I have maximized my personal brand and make it easy for potential customers to make wise decisions. I strongly suggest you look honestly at how people view you and your personal brand online.
