Monday, September 19, 2011

Maintaining Your Professionalism

By Jamie Ford


Can you recall when you could control the flow of info about yourself? Some time ago, the amount of information about you and how it could be located was entirely within your control. This is not the case these days. Today, there are all kinds of ways to find out all sorts of things about you. This is tricky on a regular scale for those who work offline in traditional jobs. It's a lot tougher for individuals who work online. These days, an errant blog post could mean the difference between making the sale and not making the sale.

So, what are you supposed to do? What's the game plan? The real way to keep your reputation spotless is to be professional at all times both online and offline. Below are several tips to help you with that.

1. It's crucial that each piece of writing you craft is spelled and punctuated properly. It's not important if you're just composing a quick instant message to someone or writing your sales page. Spelling and punctuating correctly matter a lot. After all, you don't want somebody to find something that is riddled with errors, do you? It shows you don't know what you're doing.

2. Always reply to your e-mails and telephone calls. Your replies and conversations should be courteous and friendly and positive. Never let an online message sit for more than 24 hours without an answer. Never allow telephone messages to stagnate unreturned. Each call needs to be answered before the third ring. It's little things like these that indicate to people what they want to know about you and the commitment to your job.

3. React to critique with grace and positivity. There are constantly going to be trolls who would like you to feel awful about yourself. All the same, there will be people who have valid issues about your project and how it is presented. Try accepting every last negative feedback in your heart and ask yourself if you can make the changes that the person wishes to see without having it be detrimental to your project. Next, get in touch with the person with the problem and let him that you are going to fix it (if, indeed, you will actually fix it. If you won't, let the person know that too). This indicates that you take everybody seriously, not just the people who give you compliments.

4. check your social media! When you're in the world of social media it's not at all hard to forget that you're not simply a random person; you represent your business. Tweeting and Facebook messages that sound overly casual might be happily received by somebody they are intended for. If someone happens to see the communication, however, he might not believe that you are very serious about your business.

5. Let your personality show as much as possible. No one says you need to cover everything that makes you you. As a matter of fact, one of the most effective ways to make yourself stand out is to let who you are shine through your work. Still, at the same time, keep in mind that you represent your business, so keep your best face forward.




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