This is my first entry as a regular weekly columnist at Brand-Yourself.com. I am thankful for the opportunity to contribute to an already powerful site – and to connect with all of you in the process. For my first post, I want to explore how it is that career opportunities like contributing to established blogs present themselves.
In my experience, previous action creates future opportunity. Here are 5 ways you can take action to create your own opportunities in 2010.
1. Build Specialized Expertise
Experts are highly valued in today’s job market. Not “jacks of all trades” that can speak moderately well on a variety of subjects – but specialists that exhibit great authority on a given subject. Find a niche that you excel in, and that you are passionate about, and knock it out of the park.
How exactly do you go about this? By absorbing every drop of knowledge on your given subject. Set up Google Alerts for relevant keywords. Search Technorati for the best blogs on the subject. Create a Twitter “Saved Search” for the topic, and check the stream of tweets every day. Slowly, you will build knowledge on your subject that you can translate to “outward-facing” expertise, in the form of your own posts.
2. Express a Unique Opinion
On my own blog, I’ve written posts that contain useful information on relevant subjects – and nobody cared. Why? Everyone had read the same take a million times. But, when I posted my opinion that Twitter users should return follow all of their followers (as a result of Twitter Lists) – I suddenly received an influx of feedback. Admittedly, both positive feedback and negative. But from each camp, I formed lasting connections willing to engage in future discussion.
Keep in mind, opportunity does not appear magically – it comes from other people who think you are worth a shot. What better way to stand out to these decision makers than by expressing a position that is uniquely yours?
3. Form REAL Relationships
Engaging in social media represents a fantastic way to create opportunity, but not in the way you might expect. So you’ve got 10,000 Twitter followers. Great, right? Well… maybe. Definitely so, if you have 10,000 engaged followers who read your stuff and communicate with you regularly. Definitely not, if you are only connected to bots and spammers.
My advice: Cover up the portion of your screen that shows your Twitter follower count. Instead, focus on ReTweets and @Replies from those which you’ve TRULY connected with. If the results are less than expected, take action of your own. Reach out to Tweeters who you respect and admire. ReTweet their stuff and send an introductory @Reply of your own. Comment on their blogs. Email them directly. Whatever it takes.
Two great examples of widely followed Tweeters who manage to connect meaningfully with individuals are Chris Brogan and Gerald Weber.
4. Experiment With Tomorrow’s Tools
Opportunity, if it is headed your way, will arrive in the future. So why use the tools of yesterday to stir up that opportunity? Lifestreaming, location-based social networking, augmented reality… all are examples of technologies don’t make a hell of a lot of sense to the general public today. But if these tools (or others) make sense to you, there is opportunity.
Last year, while the economy melted like a stick of butter, a shrieking 15 year old from Nebraska made 6 figures with a flip cam and an internet connection. What will be the YouTube of 2010? I don’t know. But I do know this – someone will cash in huge because they experimented and got in on the ground floor. To stay on top of the latest tech and social media news, read Mashable and TechCrunch regularly.
5. Ask For Nothing (But Get it Anyway)
I am a huge believer in giving away as much “value” as you can, for free, for as long as you can tolerate. The seeds you plant today will eventually grow into something amazing – you just have to be patient.
My readers will know where I am headed with this… the example of Gary Vaynerchuk. Gary V. has built one of the strongest personal brands around by airing daily webisodes of Wine Library TV for the past several years – every one of them for free. He has grown his wine business into a multi-million dollar global empire.
How can you add value today, while asking for nothing in return? One great avenue is by responding to questions posted within Linkedin Answers. Here, you can help others and share your expertise with the community. Each answer is another seed you plant that just might bloom into something special down the road.
Taking action today to create future opportunity can sometimes be a frustrating task. But rest assured, taking steps to build a strong personal brand now will pay huge dividends in the long run.
What do you think? Have I forgotten any key steps certain to light the spark for future opportunity? Let me know in the comments section, and please, say hello on Twitter if we haven’t already met.
