I recently met with a friend who was having to reinvent himself and he asked if I would take a look at his resume and give him my feedback. Here is what I shared with him:
- Get your name for a domain name (e.g. name.com) Click here for the reason.
- Brand yourself firstname.lastname@gmail.com is not good branding, firstname@first|lastname.net is better, firstname@first|lastname.com is the best.
- If you are not visible you are invisible. I know being 50 means you are getting older but it doesn’t mean you are old! Start becoming visible to the new economy. Begin by writing, it’s the difference between being found and being extinct.
- If you write it will make you read. You can’t share what you don’t know. People who don’t write usually have a reason besides atrophy, it’s that they quit learning and quit reading when they graduated. Now they just go through the motions of life.
- A resume is boring and means very little in 2011; a blog positions you. It tells the world what you think, how you think, what’s important to you, and if you can help me.
- If a person is looking for someone, where do they begin? Everyone begins with Google. Where are you showing up on Google? If I find you is it relevant information that helps me get to know you or is the same old, same old.
- Subscribe to blogs and give feedback to the author. It keeps you sharp and you make someone feel special enough that you cared to comment. Some very good blogs to subscribe to: http://dondalrymple.net, http://blog.ascendworks.com, http://sethgodin.typepad.com, http://www.johnmauldin.com/, http://blogmaverick.com, http://boingboing.net/, http://ryanpaynemedia.com, http://www.presentationzen.com/, and many more!
- 40 years from now what will people learn about you? Where will they learn it from? What about your children and grand children? Will they be able to search the Internet and read what was important to you?
When are you going to get started?