We've all been told it’s what is on the inside that counts. This important message has been reinforced directly through words and actions throughout time to strengthen its relevance. At the same time we are told that you never get a second chance to make a good first impression. Interestingly enough, much of a first impression can be based solely on your appearance. Your appearance is just one aspect that makes up your personal and business image.
In today’s society both are highly noticed and judged. Image and Publicity Expert Starley Murray shares her insights from her five all-star image based careers. Although her clients from LA and New York are known for being more image focused, Murray says not to under estimate the same strong focus where it may be more softly stated in cities like San Antonio and Austin, since positive image is crucial to the success of most any career in all markets.
Sales Marketing
We take part in sales marketing every day of our lives as far back as history shows us. Cavemen would trade and barter for their survival and to protect their blood line.
Today we still trade and barter our time for a pay check or other forms of compensation. To better our chances of keeping our jobs or to make a sale, we adapt our image to get the best end result.
There is a healthy balance of selling your positive and effective image with how to relate to your customers needs. In the quest to persuade the customer that the exchange is in their favor, remember that “the truth is always the strongest argument,” at least according to Sophacles.
Internet Marketing
The Internet started a marketing revelation. Later it revolutionized the way we network.
The image of your website and email campaigns can brand you in the eyes of your customer in seconds with either a positive or negative message.
There are so many resources to help create this image, and although there are many ways you can create a negative impact in your quest, you also have the advantage of studying the image of what already exists while making your decisions.
Studying how you fit into the Internet marketing world through simple Internet research is like getting to peek in a room before you enter to see what every one is wearing. You have the opportunity to control how you want to present yourself with purpose.
Social Media
Social media choices offer diversified ways to market your image. From twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or YouTube, you have a multimillion dollar array of resources at your finger tips.
Maybe because it is so easy and inexpensive to access these tools that people underestimate how much success or damage can impact your personal or business image.
When you utilize these free resources, link them all back to your website to positively advertise your image, whether through blogs, free tips, coaching material or videos.
Public Relations
You can damage your public and personal image in a blink of an eye.
Whether you are an entrepreneur in charge of your direct PR image or working for a large company, you will need to maintain a positive image in the public’s eye.
Today’s society is driven by a brand image economy. Lip service is quickly recognized and empty promises are remembered.
Community and worthy cause supporters are what makes up successful industry leaders who recognize the power of positive image through public relations.
Customer Service
Your personal and business image is a constant presence as you attract customers and attempt to keep them with customer service.
First off, people talk. There are whole websites now solely dedicated to sharing reviews of different businesses.
Secondly, it is easier to keep clients than it is to find new ones. It takes less time, energy and resources to keep clients and accept referrals than it does to constantly start from scratch.
Customer service must be present throughout the whole buying and relations process, from establishing a need to purchase to the after sale connection.
How can you improve your image?
Your image is more than a full time job. It is your life. That includes your professional, social and organizational affiliations. Every choice you make defines you.
This will never change, but excelling in these five star image categories will make you different in a good way. The people who do not are usually eliminated and replaced.
Coco Chanel once said, “In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different."
What messages are you unconsciously sending? What messages should you be sending? Today more than ever you have more valuable materials to absorb and mentors to emulate.
As always, remember that everyone deserves the star treatment!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
6 Secrets of Success, from Steve Jobs
Each week, Jobs Austin TX looks to bring their users valuable advice and tips from leading industry experts so that you have the resources and knowledge you need to land the job you want and excel at work!
As a tribute to Steve Jobs, we wanted to bring you a few of his life lessons. Who better to take them from than the guy whose success was nothing less than extraordinary, right? Below are six of his tips, given in past interviews.
(Originally posted by CNET - Consumer Electronics Net)
1. Follow your passion.
In a 2005 commencement address at Stanford University, Jobs told graduates to find the work they love.
2. Remember that your time is limited.
In the same address, Jobs talked about his cancer diagnosis and how it fueled his drive.
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”
3. Surround yourself with great people.
Although he was given the credit, Jobs always denied that his return to Apple was the one thing that led to the company’s reclaimed success. Here’s what he said in an interview with “60 Minutes”:
“My model for business is The Beatles. They were four guys who kept each other’s kind of negative tendencies in check. They balanced each other and the total was greater than the sum of the parts. That’s how I see business: Great things in business are never done by one person; they’re done by a team of people.”
4. Keep it simple.
When Jobs returned to Apple, he killed off all of the company’s products save a few. Apple then threw its energies into making those products dominate their markets. As Jobs told Business Week in 2004:
“Innovation comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don’t get on the wrong track or try to do too much. We’re always thinking about new markets we could enter, but it’s only by saying no that you can concentrate on the things that are really important.”
5. Seek out diverse experiences.
Jobs didn’t live his life in the vacuum of Silicon Valley. In the 1970s, he studied Buddhism, Zen philosophy and meditation. He traveled to India in search of a guru. He would later tell Wired magazine that diverse experiences are what lead to creative thinking.
“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people.”
6. Push people to do their best.
Jobs could be a punishing boss, but he gets credit for making people push themselves further than they thought they could go. As he told his biographer, Walter Isaacson:
“I’ve learned over the years that when you have really good people, you don’t have to baby them. By expecting them to do great things, you can get them to do great things. The original Mac team taught me that A-plus players like to work together, and they don’t like it if you tolerate B work.”
Tips originally posted by: CEN - Consumer Electronics Net
(Originally posted by CNET - Consumer Electronics Net)
1. Follow your passion.
In a 2005 commencement address at Stanford University, Jobs told graduates to find the work they love.
2. Remember that your time is limited.
In the same address, Jobs talked about his cancer diagnosis and how it fueled his drive.
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”
3. Surround yourself with great people.
Although he was given the credit, Jobs always denied that his return to Apple was the one thing that led to the company’s reclaimed success. Here’s what he said in an interview with “60 Minutes”:
“My model for business is The Beatles. They were four guys who kept each other’s kind of negative tendencies in check. They balanced each other and the total was greater than the sum of the parts. That’s how I see business: Great things in business are never done by one person; they’re done by a team of people.”
4. Keep it simple.
When Jobs returned to Apple, he killed off all of the company’s products save a few. Apple then threw its energies into making those products dominate their markets. As Jobs told Business Week in 2004:
“Innovation comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don’t get on the wrong track or try to do too much. We’re always thinking about new markets we could enter, but it’s only by saying no that you can concentrate on the things that are really important.”
5. Seek out diverse experiences.
Jobs didn’t live his life in the vacuum of Silicon Valley. In the 1970s, he studied Buddhism, Zen philosophy and meditation. He traveled to India in search of a guru. He would later tell Wired magazine that diverse experiences are what lead to creative thinking.
“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people.”
6. Push people to do their best.
Jobs could be a punishing boss, but he gets credit for making people push themselves further than they thought they could go. As he told his biographer, Walter Isaacson:
“I’ve learned over the years that when you have really good people, you don’t have to baby them. By expecting them to do great things, you can get them to do great things. The original Mac team taught me that A-plus players like to work together, and they don’t like it if you tolerate B work.”
Tips originally posted by: CEN - Consumer Electronics Net
Thursday, November 3, 2011
How Productive are you? By Rich Randall
Have you ever seen one of those cartoons where one of the caricature’s legs is moving real fast like they are running but they aren’t going anywhere?
I used to feel like that sometimes. I would spend my day taking care of all the little line items necessary to close a deal, but I never made the time to concentrate on truly building relationships. Almost anyone could have done those items. Why then, did I do them? Possibly because they were easy, or gave me a sense of accomplishment. This applies to anyone in the workforce.
Have you ever read stories of a sales representative, whether a loan officer, Realtor, appraiser, title or credit representative that said they closed 20+ deals a month without an assistant. When I hear a story like that, I always wonder how many deals they could have closed with the proper help?
What agenda items take up most of your time in a day?
It boils down to productive versus nonproductive tasks. Think back over the last couple of days and make a list of all the tasks you personally preformed. Go ahead, write them down. Now, mark off all the items an assistant could have done for you. How much time did you waste? What if you spent that wasted time building one relationship a month? In one year’s time, you could have 12 new referring partners or clients.
Now, I know that you are thinking you would love to hire a assistant but can’t afford it.
There is more than one way to skin a cat. Consider sharing an assistant with another producer in your office or ask around for someone who is looking for additional hours. They could come in early or stay late to help out. This is a fantastic way to jump start your business so you can spend your time meeting new prospective customers and referring partners instead of being stuck behind a desk at the office.
The whole idea is to use your time in a more efficient manner that allows you to do the things that actually make you money. Building new relationships is the most productive use of your time.
Twelve things an assistant could do:
I used to feel like that sometimes. I would spend my day taking care of all the little line items necessary to close a deal, but I never made the time to concentrate on truly building relationships. Almost anyone could have done those items. Why then, did I do them? Possibly because they were easy, or gave me a sense of accomplishment. This applies to anyone in the workforce.
Have you ever read stories of a sales representative, whether a loan officer, Realtor, appraiser, title or credit representative that said they closed 20+ deals a month without an assistant. When I hear a story like that, I always wonder how many deals they could have closed with the proper help?
What agenda items take up most of your time in a day?
It boils down to productive versus nonproductive tasks. Think back over the last couple of days and make a list of all the tasks you personally preformed. Go ahead, write them down. Now, mark off all the items an assistant could have done for you. How much time did you waste? What if you spent that wasted time building one relationship a month? In one year’s time, you could have 12 new referring partners or clients.
Now, I know that you are thinking you would love to hire a assistant but can’t afford it.
There is more than one way to skin a cat. Consider sharing an assistant with another producer in your office or ask around for someone who is looking for additional hours. They could come in early or stay late to help out. This is a fantastic way to jump start your business so you can spend your time meeting new prospective customers and referring partners instead of being stuck behind a desk at the office.
The whole idea is to use your time in a more efficient manner that allows you to do the things that actually make you money. Building new relationships is the most productive use of your time.
Twelve things an assistant could do:
- Answer phones
- Give status updates
- Marketing for new leads
- Marketing to past clients
- Marketing to referring partners
- Manage your email
- Database entry
- Clear closing conditions
- Lead generation
- Schedule appointments
- Thank you cards
- Closing surveys
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
The Business of Image Psychology, by Starley Murray
Business Image Cycle
We get so much great advice about how to present an effective work place image but ironically, we buck the system unconsciously from time to time. Having restrictive rules that seem impersonal can create resentment related to our personal image in the work . It’s interesting that these same rules are interpreted differently by the same person depending on how long we’ve been with the company. What’s more, there are similar varying levels of judgment about our image from those in the work place.
Modeling our image to be that of a prime candidate for choice is an important focus. We further decide to make what is important to the hiring company’s belief systems and image standards to be our own.
Attitude of your Interview Image
Often when we are first seeking out job opportunities our minds are open to new experiences therefore feel fortunate to get an interview for a new position. Modeling our image to be that of a prime candidate for choice is an important focus. We further decide to make what is important to the hiring company’s belief systems and image standards to be our own.
We feel mutual respect when chosen for the job and appreciate the vote of confidence in what the interviewer must have seen in us. Some times they see our potential, but more often they are comforted with our conformity to their company goals and image.
Keeping and Growing your Job
So now the excitement for our new job transitions into confidence and comfort. We are proud to present our ideas and await our rewards.
After receiving some positive feedback we feel validated that our creative concepts are rewarded. Often we begin interjecting our personal style into the ways we present ideas which can affect self-image.
At some point we may have developed enough personal pride that our individuality feels threatened in the environment that we earlier were so ready to conform to.
How do we measure our personal company value with our own personal validation? It’s important to look back at the original agreement that you made with your employer and see if you are keeping up your end of the deal while you develop a sense of value in your position in the company.
So now the excitement for our new job transitions into confidence and comfort. We are proud to present our ideas and await our rewards.
After receiving some positive feedback we feel validated that our creative concepts are rewarded. Often we begin interjecting our personal style into the ways we present ideas which can affect self-image.
At some point we may have developed enough personal pride that our individuality feels threatened in the environment that we earlier were so ready to conform to.
How do we measure our personal company value with our own personal validation? It’s important to look back at the original agreement that you made with your employer and see if you are keeping up your end of the deal while you develop a sense of value in your position in the company.
Creating your own Brand
Due to your growth you may be to a point where your individuality becomes more important to you than the original company vision that you signed on for. If you feel that you can not compromise look for a new company that your new growth fits into and is rewarded. Many entrepreneurs started their own businesses for reasons similar to these.
If you do not want to leave your current job then ask yourself what is more important to you, the compromise or the job itself. The compromise can often look like a sacrifice and leave you feeling resentful. However, the same compromise can also strengthen and maintain a healthy relationship. It’s likely that you still have a like-minded value system and may have just forgotten that. Although, the excitement has died down the mutual goal is likely still there.
"Image is more than what you wear; Image is how you represent yourself in life." ~Starley Murray
Read more about Starley Murray here
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Expert Job Advice & Tips brought to you by Jobs Austin TX
Fellow Austinites,
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