LinkedIn and Branding: Market yourself

Well, we all know about LinkedIn. Don’t we? That is the reason we sit and update it so carefully, when we start looking for jobs. Is that the only time we should be updating it? Why not do it on regular basis like we update our status on Facebook or Twitter? It is obvious that you do not need to update it so frequently. But yes, you always need to refurbish your profile regularly, as your profile is the one that speaks for you. Will updating my profile really help? Yes, it sure will, but the results are more profound when you advertise yourself in a creative and innovative manner.

Diving deeper, how does LinkedIn help in marketing yourself? It is not just an online resume. It is the place where all the corporate recruiters can see your accomplishments. It is basically a marketing campaign in which you are the product. Your profile is your portfolio.

What if I don’t have a portfolio? It is never too late to create it. A power point presentation including all your accomplishments is a starter. Get ideas! What is internet for? Ask experienced people. You need to create a respectable brand for yourself.

How to create your own brand? Well, it is simple, showcase everything you have got. Include the type of challenges you faced, the way you approached and solved it. Add the link to your articles or research papers if you have written any or the presentations you have given. LinkedIn creates an impression on a person looking at your profile – Make sure it is the best!

What boosts your brand? Recommendation letters from the right people is a big YES. Recommenders are the people who have actually worked with you closely and have gauged your potential. If they write a few good words about you and your strengths, that can add a lot of value. There is also a section in which people can endorse you for specific skills. Make sure your strengths have good endorsement.

Resume is not the only way to show your achievements. You can do a lot more using LinkedIn. It has become a great source for employers seeking talented candidates. Make sure you have a profile that stands out!

Sources:

http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2013/04/17/how-to-market-yourself-on-linkedin

QR codes: Past, Present and Future.

What is a QR code?

This is a first question that comes to anyone’s mind who has never heard of it. QR code, Is that a type of barcode? What is the difference between a barcode and a QR code?

QR code is quick response code. Standard barcodes keep track of inventory. A QR code on the other hand is used for technological purposes, basically to get more information about the product. Unlike barcodes which represent numerical data, QR codes can represent numeric, alphanumeric, byte/binary, Kanji symbols and many more. These are used extensively for marketing and advertisement. There is no data a QR code cannot store. These codes can be scanned easily by using scanner apps available on Smartphones. Whenever a code is scanned, a URL or phone number appears immediately. Though the standard looks of QR codes are black and white, customized codes are becoming more popular these days.

Past:

QR codes are new in the field of technology. This code system was invented in 1994 by Toyota’s subsidiary Denso Wave. They used these codes to track the vehicle parts during manufacture. Initially, they were widely used in Japan but now, they have gained enough popularity in other countries.

Present:

Due to their ability to store huge capacities of data in different forms and speed they have flourished beyond the automobile industries. In recent times, Smartphones have scanners that scan the code and the information linked to it appears on the phones instantly.

Future:

QR codes are being used frequently in society, but in few years they will be used everywhere as a way to provide more information to consumers. It is estimated that large population would have learnt about QR codes and make use of them to gain needed information. Eventually, this will lead to rise of smartphones and technical sales and economy. People believe that the use of QR codes will push the technological limits far beyond the extremely technical world we live in today.

We discussed about the past, present and future and understood the importance of using QR codes. But, a system cannot be perfect. SECURITY is always a major issue. How can security be an issue with QR codes? We have seen that QR codes can be used everywhere. Let us say you see an advertisement of a new restaurant with its QR code that will take you to their website once you scan the code. An attacker can easily paste different sticker on top of the poster. When you scan the code, it will directly take you to the attacker’s website and might download malicious files without you even realizing it. Consequences of security breach can be really bad. So, what can you do to be safe? One simple solution would be to make sure your QR code reader has the ability to show you where it is taking you. Also, it gives you the flexibility to choose if you want to visit the site or not. There are many more code readers which address different security issues. Get the one that is most secure yet serves the purpose.

Sources:

http://www.freeqrcodes.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_code

http://www.securingthehuman.org/newsletters/ouch/issues/OUCH-201306_en.pdf

http://www.ijcst.org/Volume3/Issue7/p13_3_7.pdf

Social Media in Business: Brand and Security

Business these days heavily depend on information flow. Employees are more productive when they can make better decisions and save time. This is possible when they have the much needed feedback about their product. Social network has recreated the bond between companies, employees, customers and suppliers, shortening the process from months to few hours. Social media is often best used by companies to fortify their brands, gain loyalty of their customers and to potentially augment their market share. 

How to attain social media success in your business?

Walmart’s director gives five steps that your business should follow:

1. Determine your value: Brands need to think about social media as a way to deliver value rather than as a tool. Rather than using social media for mere product gains, Walmart communicated about its sustainability efforts, hence delivering value, through its twitter accounts @WalmartGreen, @WalmartHealthy, @WalmartGiving and @WalmartAction, among others.
2. Audience comes first. Know them well: Use marketing tools to understand people better, profile them and see what interests them, how committed and active are they with those interests. 
3. Deliver good content: We share content that we think people like and we find out whether or not they actually like it. Initially for few months, we launch community-based Twitter to advertise the product. Once we get valuable feedback we get to know if we are delivering good content. The popularity of the product among people itself will get us a larger audience rather than more promotion.
4. Find clever metrics: It is easy for marketing department to evaluate the success of a social media campaign. But you need to get creative here. They have to track more positive metrics such as how often a post is retweeted or made favorite.
5. Use your data well: We use the data collected to know our customers better. This will help in building a meaningful relationship with the customers.

There are many models that suit different businesses. Choose the one that best suits you wisely and follow it but be ready to be innovative because change is constant.

Social media generates many opportunities along with which it also gives rise to many challenges, the most likely being data security, privacy concerns and brand and reputation damage. So what could be the anticipated risks with these challenges?  Security and privacy concerns could be: Identity theft, data retention, technical exploits like malware, viruses/worms, etc which leads to brand damage. How exactly a brand damage happens? This could be when you post hostile remarks or any classified information on a public site, calumniation, and violation of the rights secured by the copyright. 

What about brand promotion?

Making consumers aware is the best way to promote your brand.  New social networking sites are coming up every other day. Learn about the best ones to keep your consumer informed. You can promote your brand by being more effective. How exactly can that be done? One way is by interacting more with customers. Facebook is a social media to interact with customers. Like and comment on others pages. The more you do it, the more they will comment on yours. Reciprocation is the real secret to building social network which in turn helps you in promoting your brand.  Facebook is one media. You could tweet about your products; use visual appeal via instagram and many more. Find the right media to do it. But be aware of the information shared on your pages. Make sure it does not hurt your brand. So try to incorporate privacy concerns.

So, how to handle these privacy concerns?

One possibility is to use closed social networks. This will inspire employees to work more openly; they support the need for privacy. Private messages could be targeted to specific audience and private groups can be created for defensive, on-going conversations. In this way, social network is open, with an option to have a private conversation as needed.  

Sources:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/226753
http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Protecting_and_strengthening_your_brand_Social_media_governance_and_strategy/$FILE/Insights_on_IT_risk_Social_media.pdf
http://www.isaca.org/chapters2/kampala/newsandannouncements/Documents/Social_media_UTAMU_2.pdf
http://www.cio.com/article/735777/5_Secrets_to_Corporate_Social_Media_Success?page=2&taxonomyId=3004
http://sparkandhustle.com/takeaway-tips/using-social-media-to-promote-your-brand-grow-your-network-generate-revenue/
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-brand-promotion.htm 
http://blog.bufferapp.com/10-surprising-social-media-statistics-that-will-make-you-rethink-your-strategy