And so it begins. I have been following this story with so much interest. Anyone who knows me basically thinks I work for Linkedin (I don't) . It is a platform that has served me very well over the years; these past 11 months, since moving out of the corporate world, on my own and then teaming up with Tim & Adam at Digital Leadership Associates, Linkedin has come alive for me.  

What has become inherently obvious is that my personal brand is critical - and so is yours. People don't buy organisations, they buy people. Very rarely does someone in this day and age say, I have a problem, can you recommend me a company to help solve it. They follow up with, and who would you recommend I speak to at  said company to help me. Then their research on you starts. Who else do I know that is the same trusted network, who else have you worked with that say the same good things about you, your team, your product. If what is said about you, is not backed up by what they can find out themselves and self-corroborate, then you will start to fall by the wayside versus the other recommendations they have been given where they can.

You personal brand, or lack thereof, is going to be highlighted more than ever now with this integration with Outlook. That cheeky profile picture you thought would might make you stand out. The me too messaging in your profile about how awesome you are at what you do? Smash Club, hit quotas, that's me. Or the bland empty profile which says nothing. The poor connected network. Zero client recommendations about how good you are.  You get the drift.

I am going to say it here and now, I bet that your Linkedin Profile will be the new VCard that you download into Outlook Contacts address. 

I assume you care about your personal appearance in your business meetings. Do you care the same levels for your digital appearance? After all, first impressions count, right? 

Maybe it's time for a digital makeover.