Archives for February 2019

How Could You Be The Right-Hand Of A CEO?

February 26, 2019 by Contributed Post 2 Comments

There are lots of pathways that lead you to becoming a CEO one day. The most common and perhaps the most difficult is actually, climbing up the ranks. Form the lowly employee that is seen as expendable only until they prove themselves, to the apprentice, you can climb up the corporate ladder to be the top dog. However for someone who perhaps hasn’t been in the workforce for too long at all, such as a young mother or a mature woman who wants to change career, there are other routes. If you see in yourself the drive to be a leader one day, then take these nonlinear routes to reaching the top of the tree with serious curiosity. Often times you can learn how to become a CEO by behind the right-hand man or right-hand woman to someone in this position. Working closely with them, the first hand experience you will receive is priceless. But how can you get to work directly with a CEO?

Not always c-suite

Traditionally, the aim to becoming a right-hand person for a CEO would be to become a c-suite title holder. This could be a chief of any area of the business such as, Chief of Marketing, Chief of Design, Chief Operating Officer etc. Yet in today’s very fluid modern age, you don’t need to always be a c-suite before you are considered worthy enough to listen to the confidential conversations in boardrooms. There are many roles that are needed around the CEO that are not linked to a c-suite position. For example if you took an online mba finance course you will learn how to financially understood a business from top to bottom. A lot of it is administrative work so again, understanding how to keep things in order is a huge asset. Using modern tools and systems, and mba can net you skills that will improve your organizational skills. With such skills and knowledge you can become a financial analyst which every CEO has beside them at all times. You can also become a risk manager which again, every CEO always has near them to get key advice.

Understand the playing field

If you’re a woman who wants to change career, takes things slow. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to be prudent in your new career choice. It’s important to understand that technically you are behind other professionals since you just started. Yet, you are capable of catching them up if you study your career and role of choice. For example, just watching and understanding how the market is now operating can get you ahead. Businesses always want to invest their profits so essentially their money makes money for them. Study how index funds have evolved to be the safer, broader bet. Study how mutual funds have evolved. If you become adept at this you can be an investment manager for businesses. Small businesses especially want some kind of investing guidance making it a good place to begin for you.

There are many ways to get to the top in the world of business. Learning how you could become a CEO can be done by working for a CEO. The right person will be a right-hand for a CEO, someone they can rely on for great advice, for analyzing the finances and risks.

Why Crafting A Professional Image is an Important Aspect of Your Career Strategy

February 25, 2019 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

The job market is incredibly competitive. In order to successfully land your ideal position, you need to develop a strategy to set you apart from other applicants. This means optimizing your resume around your achievements rather than past job duties, developing a cover letter that showcases your strengths and what you’ll bring to a prospective company, and building your network of connections.

However, there’s an important aspect of your career strategy that you may be overlooking – your professional image. The image you project to others says a lot about the kind of professional you are. When developing a career strategy to land a new position, optimizing your professional image can give you an added edge against competition that may have the same level of experience as you, however don’t come off as polished or as confident as you do.

Here are three reasons your professional image is an important aspect of your career strategy.

Dressing for success manifests achievement

It’s common to judge others based on their clothing choices. However, you may not realize that the same psychology you apply to other people’s clothing is also subconsciously how you judge your own. When we’re dressed for success, we’re more inclined to feel confident and to exude credibility. In simpler terms, when we feel like we ‘look the part’, we’re more confident to act the part.

According to research done by a variety of psychologists, your clothing choices have an effect on your confidence and how you behave in work settings, as well as substantial influence over other people’s perception of your competence. For example, wearing a suit is shown to empower the person wearing it due to the suit-wearer’s internal perception of dominance. Research findings show that the increased level of confidence from wearing a suit resulted in a self-fulfilling prophecy of success.

Personal appearance plays into subconscious psychological bias

We all know that looks matter – but we may not realize how much of an implicit effect it can have on the impression we leave among others. In a controlled study of political candidates done by the University of California, the majority favored the candidate with the more attractive appearance despite party affiliations or candidate experience. This same subconscious bias plays out in other social or professional situations, including within your career or job search. This doesn’t mean you need to have model-like looks in order to get ahead, but it does mean that you should invest in your personal appearance.

In order to upgrade your appearance, take into account the areas you’re proud of and where you’d like to see improvement, and structure a routine that addresses both. For example, if you commonly struggle with acne or cold sores during the winter due to the dry air, make sure to address that by incorporating an effective cold sore medication or acne spot treatment into your skincare routine. Overall, improving your appearance long-term requires a good sleep schedule, regular skincare routine, exercise, and consistent attention to grooming.

Gives you an edge in making connections and influencing people

Your demeanor and behavior, while not physical qualities, are still an important aspect of your overall professional image. How you behave and interact with others speaks to your character, and people will generally gravitate towards someone they see as trustworthy, friendly, and kind. Your ability to connect with others is known as your likeability, and it’s incredibly important within the workplace or on the job hunt.

Studies have shown that likeable people are more likely to get job offers, get help at work, and be forgiven for their mistakes on the job. In order to really impress a hiring manager or build your influence at the office, you should make a conscious effort to be friendly and open. In a hiring or interview situation, this means keeping a smile on your face, practicing positive body language, and being actively engaged in the conversation you’re having with the interviewer. At work, you should make the effort to be social with your co-workers and maintain a positive attitude despite what may be going on at home.

Filling The Gap Between Products & Users

February 25, 2019 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

How do customers engage with a product?

This is the oldest question in the business book, and one of the most challenging too. There is a natural gap between a material item – your product – and an individual that you need to fill. When you understand how to make the gap disappears, your products engage enthusiastic customers and can even find loyal advocates in no time. If the gap is left unattended, you will find it tricky to appeal to your audience or even to create an emotional attachment to your offering. Filling the gap is about making an inanimate object part of someone’s life by giving it an additional value that goes beyond its practical functions.

A fork is only a piece of cutlery, for instance. But a fork that goes the extra mile to connect with the user becomes an object of consumer’s desire. Filling the gap is about giving your product an extra dimension that taps into the customers’ sense of goodness and quality. Ultimately, how do you make your fork go the extra mile?

Let the product do the talking

Products are inanimate objects. While some can move and display interactive behavior such as toys when powered, there is a thin line between a product that interacts within a programmed sequence and a product that can stand up for itself. Therefore, more and more companies are looking for solutions that would help their customers to make decisions about the products available, such as by providing an integrated digital supply chain of information. The information could be accessible via QR codes and breach the gap between the point of origin of the product and the customer. An alternative solution is to bring augmented reality into the user’s life to help them choose the best option by comparing products within a known environment. IKEA, for instance, uses AR to project furniture into the customer’s home.

Create an ethos that goes beyond functionality

Environmentally conscious entrepreneurs benefit from a powerful differential factor. Their business, and consequently their products, are as sustainable as possible, which enables them to tap into a new market. Indeed aside from tax advantages that are inherent to sustainable operations, your products also appeal to an audience group that recognizes its ethical values on top of its functions. It’s not just a fork, it’s an eco-friendly fork, and per se, it integrates into the lifestyle of green customers.

Build an ecosystem of products

HUman beings need to cultivate a sense of belonging. We are naturally attracted by communities, and we want to belong to a community. Consequently, isolated products can have a difficult time piercing through a crowded market. However, products that can connect with each other to enhance their respective functionality can build a powerful and attractive brand ecosystem, such as Apple products. For customers, there’s more than a sense of belonging when joining the ecosystem. It’s about defining their perspectives on life through the brand – in the case of Apple, the debate between Mac and Windows users has been running for decades and goes beyond product specificities to include the life aspirations, mindset and creative abilities of customers.

In conclusion, your products need to engage with customers by using digital communication, maximizing their ethos, or creating an all-included community that supports their aspirations. If you want your object to appeal to people, you need to give it emotional qualities that appeal to your customers, from the ability to interact effectively to building a sense of belonging.

Making Vintage Advertising Concepts Work Today

February 20, 2019 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

There are a slew of ways to market a product or service, and different industries have different techniques that work best for them specifically. Since the 16th century, advertising has taken on a bunch of different meanings, evolving in conjunction with society and technological advancements. And though the internet of things has propelled us into the digital era, print ads and direct mail still prove powerful in capturing consumers’ interests. Some tried and true methods of advertising are passed down from successful vintage marketing campaigns.

Invaluable created an insightful infographic that highlights vintage advertising techniques coupled with successful campaigns of the past to show that these methods really work. By combining some of these methods with modern advertising techniques, you’re well on your way to a successful campaign. Draw inspiration from the vibrancy of old Coca-Cola ads to Cadillac’s copy-heavy ads, outlined below.

The Secret To A Great Photograph

February 14, 2019 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Taking the perfect photograph can be a big challenge. It involves a lot of work on your part and a lot of preparation with the settings, editing and everything else afterwards. The perfect photograph can speak a thousand words and this is why it is important for yourself and for your business that you take the ideal image. A good image can attract people and stop them in their tracks, which is why today we are going to share some tips for taking the ideal shot.

Lighting

The most important thing to think about when you want to take a great photograph is the lighting, and the way you light up your set is crucial to the quality and overall look and feel of the piece. If you want to grab the attention of your audience, you have to make sure that your lighting is bright. That will allow the photograph to highlight all the details and fine points of the subject. You can use a ring light to emphasize on the features of the photograph.

Colour

The colour and the theme of a piece can be a huge drawing point for audiences. If you are thinking about Personal Branding Photography and how to convey your message to the audience you will want to think about the colour scheme you use for a picture. Make sure that you always decide on a colour scheme which fits the brand or the time of year and this will help your photograph get noticed. For example now that we are coming into spring, light tones and pastel colours are the ideal choice.

Use props

If you are taking a photograph of an object and you want to make the image look a little more exciting, one thing you can do is create a flat lay. A flat lay is an image which has a main focus and will have props around it to make the image look more exciting and professional. An image of a notebook could be ideal paired with a pen, some glasses and a cup of coffee. Creating a scene which people feel like they are part of is a good way to bring a photo to life.

Try a new angle

One of the main mistakes people will make when taking photographs of a product is sticking to the straight on method. Although of course a straight on image of a subject can be helpful, it can also make the image look like everything else on the market. Make sure that you think about taking your image from a new angle for some more fun this year. For example rather than taking a photograph of a person from head on, take it from slightly above to create interest. Using angles is always a great idea and you can gain a whole new perspective for the image which will help it to stand out from the crowd.