INDIANAPOLIS, Oct. 28 /Brandswag/ — Over 30 percent of Indianapolis’ population is  comprised of young professionals, which means the push for social media integration into job postings is substantial. It has become the young professionals job to “brand” oneself in order to  stand out to potential employers.

Social media allows young professionals opportunities locate  jobs and maintain and update their image to create an online resume and  gain visibility. Social media job searches often leed to successful offerings and opportunities when the candidate has a plan to brand himself and set himself apart.

Since Indianapolis is home to over ten universities, utilizing social media for  job listings creates a great “Brain Gain” for the Indianapolis Area. Instead of losing quality graduates to other cities and states, Social Media becomes the job finder’s market. The ability to post resumes on sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter,  and Monster as well as applying online drastically increases one’s chances of  finding an opportunity.

According to the Labor Bureau statistics, by 2012 two people will leave the workforce for every person that enters. Due to the difficult economy and the increase of graduates with higher qualifications, the market has become more accessible online and in some cases easier to compete.

“The way to build your brand is to be acknowledged,” said Brandswag CEO Kyle Lacy. “The more people engagement you have with your audience, the more credibility you have. If people recognize you as one who adds value to a particular topic, the stronger your brand.”

About Brandswag Corporation
Brandswag teaches organizations how to survive and grow online by creating platforms that allow effective communication with customers. To create memorable customer experiences, Brandswag clearly defines your goals and expected outcomes. Brandswag focuses on producing results because hat at the end of the day that’s what business is about. For more information on Kyle Lacy or Brandswag, visit www.getbrandswag.com or www.kylelacy.com.

A few issues that should be brought up with employees regarding social media use (via Mashable

Plagiarism still isn’t allowed
Make sure that everything is correctly sited or a link is placed that leads followers/consumers to the original document. Not only does plagiarism represent the company poorly, but it discounts the original articles that the company releases.

Transparency does not mean see-through
Transparency is a great thing for companies. It allows for consumers to stay involved but also know what is going on concerning product release, stocks, etc. However, releasing top secret company info or mentioning scandals that were sent internally on the intranet before the press release comes out does not bode well for consumer relations.

Connections that should not be connected
Any tweet or post that directly mentions the company by an employee (or even posts a link to the company’s website) and provides personal opinions that do not align with
the companies’ should reevaluate their relationship with the company. While personal opinions are perfectly fine, tying in the company’s name in with their own beliefs should be a huge red flag for employer and the situation should be evaluated immediately.

While every situation is different, the rise of social media has given a different voice to consumers, employees and companies regarding brand image and evaluation. Make sure that employees are on board with the social media policy and check online for examples if you’re stumped.

Ishmael was asked a question, What advice would you give people who want to help others in situations like the one he endured. His advice was to “be educated on the subject.” So many times we act without being educated on the subject. And a lot of times that ends up where we think we are doing something good, but in reality your actions might not be getting the results you wanted due to lack of research. Ishmael’s example was that a lot of people send money over to help the situation in Africa, but they do not know what their money is going for or who it is going to. He stated an example of a high school who wanted to help out, and instead of just sending money over to Africa, they decided to raise money to build a school and go build it themselves. They researched that there was an education problem, and wanted to make sure all their efforts were going to the school. Problem solved.

The next time you take an initiative, make sure you are well versed on the subject. Make sure you have done your research. You will save yourself wasted time, and you will be able to get results you really intend to get.

I’ve been reading a book by Richard Carlson called Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff. The book has numerous tips on how to not worry about things that don’t really need worrying about. This is something I have been trying to work on. I make a big deal out of almost everything, whether it deserves that attention or not. But lately I’ve been better at being able to differentiate the things that matter and those that don’t.

Example. In line at the store today, a new register opened up and the attendant asked for the next person in line to step into their line. A lady that was last in line immediately bolted at the opportunity. Another lady who was in front of her in line made a snood comment about her not being the next in line and that she was actually last in line. I wanted to turn to the snood-remarking lady and tell her to “not sweat the small stuff.” That in reality, two minutes in the future, none of this would even matter.

So, don’t sweat the small stuff. Brush off what doesn’t matter, and worry about the things that do.

He explained to me that this is a Results Only Environment.  The only thing that matters here is results.  That it doesn’t matter when or how much you work, but what you get accomplished.  Often times companies “rent” employees bodies from the hours of 8:00 to 5:00.  What happens then is that you pay an employee for hours, not results.  Businesses exist to create things, to make results happen.  I wonder if our teams would be more effective if we paid them for the results they achieved rather than the hours their body was present?

One of the ladies in our group then asked the question “Well, if you don’t think about the future and don’t really have a goal or plan set, then what drives you and motivates you?” And you know what, she’s absolutely right. I think we all need some goal or plan that requires us to take action and do something about it, whether that goal be large or small. And when the goal is achieved, set another one.

Why make a plan for the future? It keeps us active, keeps us in motion, keeps us from becoming solitary. Often times our plans will require the help of others, which will require us to create and build relationships. I took the last couple days to set my plan in place. Game on.

This thought occurred to me when I was at the gym the other night. Every January, the gyms are packed with people who made their resolution to get in shape and loose weight. And gradually, as the year moves along, the resolutioners begin to fade and eventually by about March, you are left with a only a few strong ones who have stuck with their goal.

This got me thinking about how most of us are great at thinking of new ideas and making promises, but how many of us are great at the follow through. I feel that so often we get wrapped up in the heat of the moment, make big plans and goals, and we act quickly on these ambitions only to watch them slowly fail.

A lot of the time these plans fail due to lack of planning or fading ambition, but most of the time they fail simply because we have realized that the idea just wasn’t that great in the first place. So what would happen if after every time we had a big thought breakthrough we allow it some soak time. Don’t take any action, just let the idea stew. You’ll find that you’ll come to the realization that your idea wasn’t so grand after all and you won’t  have wasted time, effort, and capital on a bad idea. This allows you to spend more time and effort on your ideas that really might have substance to them.

As for the follow through, make sure you don’t let your good ideas fall through. Make sure you do what it takes to finish the job. It goes back to the sayings, “Don’t start what you can’t finish,” and “Don’t make a promises you can’t keep.” Don’t be another gym resolutioner who slowly looses their drive. Follow Through.

*This post is in no way a slam against anyone who made a resolution to hit the gym, this was simply used for an example.

I recently took a trip to Sierra Leone, Africa. You wouldn’t think that taking a trip to the poorest country in the world, that recently went through a horrendous civil war would be an uplifting trip, but it was, in more ways than I can explain. The indescribable country side and beautiful souls that reside there overpowered the poverty and subpar way of life that most Leones deal with every second of every day.

Most of the time was spent at the Wellington orphanage where I met my 40 new love interests. These kids are some of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. Despite the fact that most of their parents were taken in the acts of war, these children are more filled with life than I could ever hope to be. Their smiles can brighten the darkest room and their laughter is infectious. It took several days to warm up to the kids, even though it only took them several minutes to warm up to me. Once I became adjusted to the orphanage it was game over and I was in love with the children of the Wellington orphanage.

Besides the trip being amazing, it was nice just to get away from the everyday routine that I was used to. If you’re like me the second I awake I begin think and worry about all that has to happen in the hours ahead, and all that happened in the hours of yesterday. So if there is a point or advice to come out of this post, it would be to step away from your routine for a while. come back with a new mindset and fresh ideas. I know whenever I need another break from my routine, I will be headed back to Sierra Leone.

*I also need to say a big thanks to Brandswag’s COO, Brandon Coon for allowing me to go on this trip with him.

The most impressive fact about this speech, in my opinion is the length.  The most famous speech in America was only 10 sentences long and lasted barely over 2 minutes. I’m not sure about you, but this makes me think much harder about the way we are crafting our messages.  One myth of the speech is that Lincoln crafted it on the back of a napkin on his way to deliver it.  When you use only 10 sentences to make a powerful statement, you must craft it for hours.  I wonder how much more effective we could be as professionals if we put in more work crafting on the front end, and less time talking (or yelling) at people on the back end.  History says you could have a tremendous impact if you changed your thinking this way.

This story comes from content that I was privileged enough to hear Mark Sanborn deliver at an event in Oklahoma City yesterday and he actually talks more about these principles much better than I do in one of his posts: How Leaders Communicate; Part II.

We would like to sit here and say that there are TONS of companies that are the same. There are 30,343 graphic design firms in Indianapolis. Not true, but you get the point. I am not talking about face value. The difference in each organization is the people behind the brand.

Each company has individuals that run every facet of the arms, legs, and head of the company. They are each an individual. They are each… different. They each have their own ideas, thoughts, and imagination on where the company is headed into the future.

This is an extremely important concept to understand. You need to utilize each individual under a common brand. We all have different ideas on marketing and that is why companies vary greatly on marketing potential… and (of course) disaster.

Utilize your employees. Utilize your customers (your brand). Create a sustainable future for your (their) company. Create a company that embraces change, ignites excitement, and takes full advantage of a trend.

Marketing is always different. Ideas are always different. It is the implementation… that moves mountains.

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