11 Rules for Personal Branding Success with Avatars

11 Rules for Personal Branding Success with Avatars 3 Here are the best practices to using avatars in reinforcing your personal brand online. What is the goal of your personal avatar? If your avatar is meant to help people recognize you online only, the choice of image isn't as important as the necessity to use the same image wherever you can. However, if your avatar is meant to help people recognize you on AND offline, you should use a portrait photo of yourself for the avatar image, and that's the case I'll focus on here. 11 Rules for best results 1. Use a picture of yourself, not a logoeval Considering that we're discussing “personal branding”, the avatar image should be a person â€" you. Most people say they never forget a face; help them by showing your face. 2. Use the same picture everywhereeval This is key. An avatar is your personal logo online, and every appearance should reinforce your personal brand's identity. If repetition is reinforcement, this single concept may have the most impact on your personal brand's success. The best part of this is that reusing the same picture everywhere is just simpler to manage too. 3. Full head shot only A consequence of using the same picture everywhere is that the image will appear in different sizes. If people are to recognize you, your face should appear as prominently as possible wherever it will be displayed. Considering that avatars can be seen as small as 16 x 16 pixels, only a full face image will give you any chance of being recognized universally. 4. Use a professional self-portrait This is a no-brainer. Make the best impression with a picture of the best quality. 5. The picture should resemble your real face as much as possible While trying to look as good as possible in the picture, don't go so far with makeup or Photoshop touch-ups that you're barely recognizable in reality, defeating the whole purpose of the avatar. On the other hand, do cover up or digitally remove any temporary facial blemishes that were visible on the day of your photo shoot. 6. Only use special effects for shock value For some people, it's more important that the image be memorable than an accurate portrayal, such as a professional clown who's trying to make you laugh. In that case, it's ok to use special effects (facial distortions, etc.) to further your goal. For everyone else- special effects will only make you less recognizable in real life. 7. Have your picture taken when you're feeling fine Sleep well the night before or even the few nights before. Also, avoid a photo shoot when you're sick. It's a bad sign if the pictures haven't been taken yet and you already know that Photoshop will be needed. 8. Keep makeup understated unless you have a good reason If you only want people to recognize you when you have makeup on, use slightly more makeup than usual for the picture. Otherwise, keep it understated so that people can still make the connection if you're not wearing any makeup at all when you meet. 9. Your facial expression should inspire the right emotions Most people will want to inspire confidence and professionalism with their avatar. The quickest way to make a good impression is with a nice smile or slight grin, something we grew accustomed to seeing as babies. For other people, like boxers or prison wardens, a grim face is better to show toughness. 10. The photo background should contrast well A background that contrasts well with your head or face will make it easy to look at the image online. Another reason to get a professional photographer to take the picture for the avatar, but a simple tip that almost always works well is to take your picture outside. Just be careful of shadows and try using a flash. 11. Only use images in the jpg format Most social networks like LinkedIn or Facebook will let you upload gif, png or jpg images but of those 3, only the jpg standard compresses photo quality images well. Conclusion If you take the time and thought to create the best avatar for your personal brand just once, you can multiply the benefits with every view your avatar gets online. I originally published this article on the terrific Personal Branding Blog.

Be The Most Interesting Person In The World - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Be The Most Interesting Person In The World - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Since we were children, weve been taught to be humble. Even at work, weve been taught to ask about others rather than talk about ourselves. Religion calls talking about ourselves as pride and many religions consider it a sin. Its no wonder we have a tough time making ourselves look interesting when searching for a job. Our training in humbleness extended to our resume, as weve been taught to brand ourselves as qualified rather than extraordinary. Even the core of our body of knowledge of job search, taught to us by our college/grad school placement office, taught us to look just like everyone else. Our college placement office had a different goal than we did their goal was to brand the school to employers, as a provider of a consistent quality of entry level worker. Thats why they taught us a standard resume format and refused to accept resumes that deviated from their standard format. Our colleges taught us to write a resume that would make us look the same as everyone else, because they were branding themselves as producing a consistent product us. But that doesnt help your job search it didnt then and it especially doesnt now. What we learned as children and from our college placement offices has taught us to be humble, not brag about ourselves and to describe ourselves as being the same as everyone else. Weve been taught to describe ourselves as the opposite of interesting. Weve been taught to present ourselves as boring. So how can you unlearn what we were all taught? Here are 4 ways to be the most interesting person in the world Recognition: Before you can describe yourself as interesting, you need to recognize the things that make you interesting, that make you different from other candidates. You likely have a number of work-related aspects that youre great at things you do better than just about anyone else. You likely have a number of non-work related things that make you interesting what you like to do in your free time that youre really good at. Stop Being Humble: Your resume and interviews are no place to be humble. Your goal shouldnt be to appear the same as other candidates, it shouldnt be to show youre qualified. Instead, your goal in resume writing and interviews should be to tell employers how different you are that youre an interesting and a superior candidate. Stop Being Afraid: This goes back to our childhood, where we were scolded or punished for talking about ourselves we were taught that its impolite. In regular conversation, bragging about ourselves is impolite. But when youre searching for a job, the rules change. In job search, its critical to talk about yourself by showing how youre the solution to an employers specific problems. You need to talk about yourself, demonstrating how youre unique, a superior candidate and interesting. Stay Away From Being The Same: Youre not the same as everyone else. So dont describe yourself as the same as others, when youre job searching. Seek out the things that make you different and bring them up in your resume and interviews. The rules are different for job search. If you cant talk about yourself, how can you convince an employer that youre the person for the job. So ignore what you were taught as a child, what you learned in Sunday School and what your college placement office taught you. Discover what makes you different, unique and superior and talk about it. Author: Phil Rosenberg is President of http://www.reCareered.com, a leading job search information website and gives complimentary job search webinars at http://ResumeWebinar.com. Phil also runs the Career Central group, one of Linkedin’s largest groups for job seekers and has built one of the 20 largest personal networks on Linkedin globally.

5 Ways to Hire a Candidate that Matches your Company Culture

5 Ways to Hire a Candidate that Matches your Company Culture Company culture is the DNA of your workforce, and is made up of the goals, vision and values of every employee. Depending on the culture fit of your next hire, they can either reinforce your company’s mission, or they can dilute it. As well, because younger job seekers are now placing more importance on company culture, finding a candidate that embodies your values is crucial for all. Assessing a candidate’s potential culture fit isn’t quite the same as measuring up skills and experiences from a CV, so here are 5 ways to hire a candidate who matches your company culture. 1. Communicate your values It’s important to communicate your values clearly throughout the whole hiring process, and your job ad is a great place to start. Use your job description to communicate your company culture by setting out your values, but also describing the environment and nature of how you work. Try to go beyond just stating your values, by describing examples of how you live by them. Clearly defining your company values in the job description will attract the characters you want, as well as encouraging candidate self-selection, saving you precious time. Moreover when your new hire starts, these values will already be instilled on them. 2. Ask open-ended questions Steer the interview flow more towards a conversation rather than a rigid question-answer interview, and let them do the talking. Asking standard questions can result in rehearsed answers that don’t fully reflect a candidates personality. Behavioural, open-ended questions gives a candidate the opportunity to think on the spot and speak freely, allowing their personality to show so you can assess a more authentic response. Here are some interview questions you could ask to help assess culture fit: Why do you want to work here? What’s your ideal work environment? Tell me about a time you made a mistake. How did you address it and what did you learn? What inspires you? What are your hobbies? What type of culture do you thrive in? Describe yourself in three words. What values are you drawn to and what’s your ideal workplace? What’s your favourite aspect of your current position? How would you describe our culture based on what you’ve seen? Talk about a time you worked as part of a team. What do you like best about our company? How do you define success? What best practices would you bring with you from another organization? Tell me something about you that isn’t on your CV 3. Have more than one interviewer If possible, involve more key employees in the hiring process rather than relying on one interviewer. This can indicate a fairer assessment of a candidate’s potential cultural fit, distinguishing that from a personal connection of an individual interviewer. Company culture is not down to one person, it comes from all employees, and having a more collaborative assessment where more voices are heard can lead to a better cultural fit hire that’s agreed by the many. 4. Show them around Show your candidate the wider picture of your company by giving them a tour around the office. Environment is a great indication of culture, and this allows for a two-way assessment where the candidate can have a better feel for your company and the team they might potentially work with. This insight will let them better determine whether it really is the company they want to be part of. Likewise, this gives you the chance to see how the candidate interacts with other employees; pay attention to their comfort level, and overall behaviour. 5. Diversify Lastly, there is a risk of discrimination when looking for the right culture fit. It’s important to remember that culture fit isn’t about hiring people who are all the same, it’s about individuals who share your vision, goals and values. You should be able to find these attributes in candidates from all backgrounds, and your company values can and should be reflected through a richly diverse team of talent.

Balance Your Health Diet While Working Long Hours

Balance Your Health Diet While Working Long Hours It can be difficult to stay motivated to achieve health goals when you are working a tough nine to five. But it is important to maintain your fitness aspirations because it will keep you healthy for your long hours at work and give you that last bit of energy when you really need it. Here are some tips that I have learned over the years as a personal trainer that will ensure you maintain a healthy diet whilst enduring a difficult work schedule. 1) The Golden Rule The Golden rule for a balanced diet is to make sure you are eating the right food. It may seem obvious but this is where a lot of people will slip up. The most important thing is to plan your shopping and make one big shop per week. If you don’t even have time to physically go out and shop that is not a problem. Online shopping is a thriving business because it is so convenient. You can do your online shop during your commute to work and have your shopping delivered later that day. It is vital that you plan you shop, and stay consistent. Make sure your groceries arrive on a Friday evening so that you are prepared for the week to come. Ordering the right amount of food and having it ready to go at home will help prevent you giving in to the easy take-away. You should also ensure you think about various sources of protein, healthy fats and carbohydrates. Dont forget to think of snacks. 2) Meal Prep: Keep it Simple The best way to ensure a healthy week in the office is to prepare your lunch in advance. This is not a difficult step, you can keep it simple at first and gradually get more adventurous when you develop a routine. Keep it simple but make sure you choose at least two or three different sources of protein and carbs throughout the week. It you have a variety of choice it will stop you getting bored and prevent you from looking for more attractive alternatives like fast food. A good combination is meat plus vegetables plus legumes, or fish plus vegetables and legumes. For vegetarians experimenting with different types of legumes and vegetables and things like tofu is a great way to stay healthy. Make sure you have the containers to take to work. Pack them in advance, store them in the fridge and take one container out in the evening before going to bed. 3) No-Effort Breakfast Most people favor sleeping an extra hour over preparing a healthy breakfast. I can’t disagree, sleep is equally vital to your health. But breakfast doesn’t need to require a huge amount of effort. Here are some easy, cheap and quick breakfast combinations to get you going:               Boiled eggs + Spinach/any other greens (11 min to boil the eggs)               Smoked salmon + greens or read               Greek yogurt + berries               Overnight oats + berries None of these options require significant effort. Just keep it simple! 4) Those Cheeky Little Snacks! We all love a cheeky little snack, but if we don’t watch ourselves this momentary indulgence could slip into an hour-long biscuit binge! Planning is crucial. Having a health snack, like seasonal fruits and nuts will help you maintain a healthy diet. If you have a sweet tooth and you know you can’t go through the day without sweets bring some in with you, but only a piece or two. 5) Working Late Hours Ditch the greasy take-out pizza and find a healthy alternative close to your office. Order light meals that will aid your productivity rather than make you lethargic. Whilst it might be tempting to take the easy option when you are tired, knowing that you chose the healthy option instead should keep you motivated to finish that project! 6) Water Please! This step is simple: drink water. Staying hydrated is essential, it will ensure you are less hungry and will keep you active throughout the day. If you follow these few tips you will back in the health groove in no time. At times, it may be tough to stick to a routine when work is stressful but it is fine if you fail occasionally. If you recognise your limits and stay motivated you will be able to keep your health and work life balanced! Justina Triasovaite is a certified  female personal trainer in London  and also runs  justinatraining.com, a site with useful information for those who are interested in general fitness and body transformation. A committed health and fitness fanatic, Justina is very passionate about helping people transform their lives.

How to Write a Grants on a Resume

How to Write a Grants on a ResumeGrant writing on a resume is an effective way to showcase your skills and experience. However, it is important to note that this type of material must be taken seriously by the employer. Writing grants on a resume should be done with a lot of care, as there are many other applicants vying for the same position. The emphasis should be on demonstrating to the company that you are qualified for the position.Most writers will begin to think about grant writing on a resume by considering what is on their resume. They may have received awards or have been a recipient of a competitive grant. Most of these examples are rather obvious, but there is still one requirement that must be met in order to consider writing grants on a resume. It is important to know why you would like to write this kind of material, because you should not just list any awards.You must have clearly defined criteria need to be used when reviewing resumes and grant proposals. Do not simp ly read over all the information that is provided. Instead, make a note of what is written and where it was found.The information you come up with must be complemented by other information such as experience and education, but that does not mean that you can simply select a particular type of job that has a grant writing on a resume. You must remember that there are a lot of other applicants for the same position.Before you can write a proposal for a grant, you should have already written an initial research paper about the particular topic, so you can use this brief outline as a guide. When you are done with this research project, you can use it as a resource for your resume proposal.To begin, the writer must realize that writing a grant application is very different from writing a grant proposal. It is crucial that they understand the difference between the two and use them for different purposes. Do not simply use the same format for both projects, but add some creative ideas in order to increase the chances of getting a response from the grant writer.When writing a grant proposal, the writer should include any funding requirements along with the budget of the project. They should also add in the various sources that they will be using to get the money for the project. They should clearly describe how they will use the money and how the grant will be used. Finally, they should mention a timeline of when the project will be completed.When you are writing a grant on a resume, you should not simply hand it over to the reader. There are a lot of other applicants for the same position, so you must take the time to take some personal interest in the project and talk about the benefits that you believe the company will gain from having you as their new applicant. It is important to ensure that you present yourself as a serious and diligent applicant.

Say What You Mean to Say and Say it like you mean it!

Say What You Mean to Say and Say it like you mean it! As I talk with job seekers about their adventures, there seems to be a common thread that connects them.   It seems to me that they have difficulty really saying what they mean to say.   This happens in interviews, resumes and on cover letters. On resumes, I see phrases that mean absolutely nothing.   For example: Excellent interpersonal skills, both written and verbal. Adept at problem solving. Collected and categorized billing data. None of these differentiate the candidate from any others.   These are trite or unqualified. Convert these into accomplishments by sharing a story or talking about the specific benefits past employers have reaped because you have employed these skills.   Think STAR, PAR, CAR.   Or for more on accomplishments, you can see I Just Did My Job post. In an interview (either over the phone or in person) people can send the wrong message.   For example: Interviewer: So, would you be able to start in two weeks? Interviewee: Well, I suppose I could get things wrapped up in two, maybe three weeks. Holy cow!   Are you kidding me.   This job seeker has been unemployed.   Any answer short of, Give me a week and Im ready to start. or I could start tomorrow if you needed me that soon. could send the message to the interviewer that there is hesitancy or lack of interest in the job. Interviewer: I am afraid you wouldnt be content with the salary we could offer. Interviewee: I am sure that the compensation would work within my personal budget. Now this isnt necessarily a bad answer, however, it should be followed up by a question or a further statement of how interested you are in the position, perhaps even an example of why you are interested and what you can do to help solve the employers problem.   Or maybe a nicely uttered question in return, Why would you think that? The moral of these examples is, do not be afraid to wear your heart on your sleeve.   If you dont feel the love then they wont feel the love.   It comes across in the words you use and the tone of your voice.   Be the most enthusiastic you can be!   And be convincing.   Convey your value.   You have assets.   These assets are your brand and your uniqueness.   Show them with pride!

How To Build A Successful Franchise

How To Build A Successful Franchise If you are looking to build a successful empire this year, you might be thinking about starting up your own franchise. A franchise can be an amazing business opportunity because you will be able to have multiple locations and multiple brands under the umbrella of your business. If you love the idea of building a franchise this year, here’s how to do it. Money Whether you are looking to build an escape room franchise, a chain of restaurants or a film company: you will need to have plenty of money available for you when you come to start your business. When starting up a franchise you will need to ensure that you have enough money not only to launch the venture but to also sustain the business for a year at least. This will give you the time you need to get it off the ground and make sure that you are able to start making a profit within 12 months. Make time for family Running a business is an incredibly big task, and you will need to ensure that even if you are working long hours, you balance these hours to spend time with your family. A family is hugely important, and it is also important that you are able to switch off at the end of each day and spend time with them. Even if you have tonnes of work to do, set yourself a switch off time each night. Be passionate You absolutely cannot look to start a business unless you are passionate about the venture. If you start a business which you don’t really care about, this will show and you won’t be willing to go the extra mile to make it work. If you want to build a successful franchise and empire for yourself, you have to be passionate about the subject and you need to be willing to dedicate your whole life to it. Give great customer service The key to any successful business is being on the good side of your customers. Make sure that you go the extra mile and train your employees to work as hard as they can to keep your customers happy and make sure that they respect and love your company. If you are able to show amazing customer service skills, word will spread and you will become more popular by reputation. Consistent marketing Marketing is essential if you want to stay in the forefront of your customers’ minds throughout the year. Think about just how you can keep your audience excited and engaged with your brand all year long. Look at a company like KFC who are recently coming up with some incredible and memorable campaigns for social media. If you can take a leaf from their book and provide a funny, entertaining and positive marketing strategy, you will be gaining followers and fans in no time for your business. Running a business and building a franchise can be hard, but if you have the will, the patience, and the resources, you could be the next big thing.