I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I’m a bona-fide geek who has a lifetime subscription to the comic book industry and fantasy creators everywhere. I’m not ashamed of it (although my wife may laugh and tell me to grow up), and I also know it’s not for everyone. It is for me, though.
Yet before you join in the laughter (if you’re about to – maybe you’re a fellow geek too?), let me ask you something:
- How much are you being creative with the tools that you have around you?
- Are you exciting people with your plans both current and future?
- Are people talking about you in the communities you share?
- Are you taking existing tools and technologies and turning them into something even better?
If you don’t have a positive answer for any or all of these questions, you’re missing out on great opportunities to expand your name, your brand, your business and your community. Especially when it’s free or, at the very most, a few dollars a month.
We Can Rebuild It – We Have The Technology.
Look at any of the advances we’ve made and it’s usually someone taking an existing idea and running with it. Making it better, stronger, more complete. Brakes on a car becoming anti-lock brakes; vacuum cleaners becoming bagless cylinder cleaners; phones becoming wireless. Everything using already good products and making them great.
Use the same approach for yourself. Look at what makes your life easier, online and off, and see how you can improve that for both yourself and those around you.
Take inspiration from someone else and re-invent it for yourself. See what your peers and contemporaries are doing and ask yourself why you think they’re enjoying success in whatever they’re doing. Is it because they’re more experienced, or more open, or more communicative? Look, listen and learn. And then take the best parts and make them even better.
Be Creative.
How are you getting your message out? How do people know about your experience, your services, your difference from others around you? Maybe it’s time to take a step back and look at differentiating yourself and offering another way for your talents to shine.
There are plenty of tools to help you. Want an all-in-one place to link to your most important places, profiles or examples of your successes? Use a MeeID account to give people a 10-line snapshot of you. It’s easy, it’s free, and it’s entirely up to you how you use it best. Go all out and set up multiple accounts – personal, social networking and business. Really, the choice is yours.
Or update your resume and use a Visual CV instead. It’s using the same basic information you’d have on a normal resume and then some. As a tool for marketing yourself , it’s hard to beat. Have it on your blog, or link to it from your MeeID profile. Use the tools to connect with each other and you’ll answer anyone’s questions before they’re even asked.
Time is one luxury very few of us have. We can’t always come up with great new ideas and tools from scratch. Using the tools from those already a few steps ahead of us and making them our own is the next best thing.
This fan video shows just what can be achieved with some existing resources and creativity. How are you using your Thundercats groove?
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