There is a tool for every job, and every job has a tool.
You want to bang in a nail? Grab a hammer.
You want to twist in a screw? Grab the Phillips head screwdriver.
But don’t ask the hammer to do a screwdriver’s job. It won’t work. It’s not good at it. A hammer is great at hammer’s a job. Ask it to do that, and it will deliver every time.
Same thing goes for marketing channels. TV is good at certain jobs. Search is good at certain jobs. Display advertising is good at certain jobs. Assign them the right jobs, and they will deliver every time. Ask TV to do search’s job, however, and it will fail.
Recently I didn’t listen to my own advice. I asked a hammer to do a screwdriver’s job. A very smart woman, Janice Waterman, who focuses on c-level career coaching in the areas of strategy, marketing, communications, and execution, helped me see the error of my ways.
You see, my so-called “killer app” has always been…me. Whether it’s searching for my next consulting project, negotiating the price of a new car or helping a non-profit with organizational design, I know I can be most effective in person. Get me in front of a group of people and I knock it out of the park (most of the time).
Knowing that, I used my LinkedIn profile to, in a sense, re-create ME. It was written in a conversational tone and conveyed information about my personality that I thought would help whomever viewed my profile get a feel for who I was, as though we were already in a face-to-face situation.
The thing is…that’s NOT LinkedIn’s job. LinkedIn’s job is to display your WORK.
- The things you’ve done in your career.
- The job’s you’ve had.
- The companies you’ve worked for.
It’s great at those jobs. It’s not great at other jobs. So, I changed the profile. Lesson (re) learned. Thanks Janice.
Comments