WHAT they're NOT informing you under PRIVACY

Hi John,

Hope all is well.

Unfortunately, one of our hoses inside the cement wall split and we have a flood in our basement on our hands.  When the representative from INTACT, A*****, came by on Friday your ears may have been ringing as I was singing your praises and she asked me to send your contact information -- I will only do that with your permission.

You and your bride should stop by for coffee over the next few days -- so you can meet Rob and I can see the foundation behind the business - your wife :o)

I think you may want to consider a winter business:  reclamation and fix up after property damage:  aka basement floods.  You are a very strong communicator and efficient project manager -- so even if business is slow during the winter months, you could help fix others' disasters.  Similarly, to your roofing business, you don't do the work yourself, you just tee up the right people since you have the right processes already in place:  quoting/proposals that are very comprehensive and leave no questions what it covers or gaps where interpretation can run amok.

The company whom the insurance company forwarded as their preferred vendor (they will not guarantee any others if you use your own company) .... well, basically, they are a joke.  I hadn't begun working with their guy (aka company but is all the company and its reputation upon staking who they put in front of their customers and your guy or their gal.  I really think INTACT will like your style:  professional & representing your own services, acting as your own sales representative and then customer service (pre- and post-work), supply chain, personnel, etc. falling under your own responsibility as though your word is your golden sword:  it is solid.

That's what is missing in this fiasco with the insurance companies' "preferred vendor" is Bahn Projects (good thing you didn't limit your name when you chose your company name, someone visionary could see that as a no brainer and build able upon without limiting potential).

I will forward your email to A***** so you may connect, and even get on as a PREFERRED VENDOR because you GUARANTEE your work and stand by your team - great leadership and entrepreneurial talent -- best of all, you know your numbers:  you know how many man hours it is going to take to do a roof, add/source the materials to do the work plus an administrative markup, per industry standards, take pictures and provide diagrams in your elegant, professional proposal.

You've done your homework:  you know how your competition works, or how the industry tends to behave, and just brought it up many notches with your class, intelligence and personable character ::... people CAN TRUST you in doing what you say, when you say it, in the manner you describe, at the cost estimated, minus any surprises since you are the ultimate professional expert in your field of service.  I hope INTACT will hire you as the golden ticket to continue to grow your business, upon the foundation of your TRUSTWORTHINESS. 

To help your business build credibility and set failure aside, you've followed THE GOLDEN RULE :[ treat others as you wish to be treated ] as well as IN YOUR WORD others can trust.

I hope this makes up for my earlier blog?  I will be posting this on every YELP or recommendation sites/venues.  Unless you object by responding immediately by November 30, 2018, I can consider your permission granted.  However, if you would like to write back and describe to me the "PERFECT CUSTOMER" because that is where you recognize where to put your eggs: to a giHUGE bin in the driveway with your LOGO clearly sprayed from every angle and vehicles always impeccably clean, making that a cardinal rule in the culture of the team you select:  the tradespeople who have great work ethic, personable and friendly interactions with customers by your entire team, along with workmanship and pride of quality their own work means.

Let me know if you would like me to forward to Amanda.

Continued success,

Jeannette

@Jeannette Marshall   E V E R Y W H E R E +optioneerJM                               

#CalgaryBlogger

OR bankon nobody reads PRIVACY?

to be continued/written

/jm

Privacy matters: what information are you releasing?

Privacy breach?

Like a lot of you out there :: information gobblers and research geniuses :: I'm "aware" that Privacy has replaced Cloud, Data, AI (artificial intelligence), etc. etc.  as the flavor of the day.

Media attention
Does serve a purpose.  In fact, if I wasn't such an avid reader and news fan, I probably wouldn't have noticed how privacy is becoming the dark horse that has reared its ugly head after the wide-spread coverage of how Facebook failed in protecting its users from privacy breaches.  

Hippocratic Oath
Like doctors who graduate into practice take the Hippocratic oath meaning they will fight to maintain life over all other.  Why aren't the social media and online giants or media outlets sworn to upkeep the truth, protect its users from dissemination of their personal information and be charged with some huge fine (minimum equivalent to the monetary value they benefited from release of the information for payment on handing out that information to a third party technology organization).

Big Brother
Big Brother is alive and thriving because of our ignorance, burying our hands in the sand mentality that if we ignore it, it can't happen to us.

To think, I was mulling over a blog about going the extra mile:  you can usually get an idea of where my head's at by my tweets to be transparent.  I had been listening to a Radio Talk Show (I often listen to QR77 in Calgary, to allow it be known).  Because I knew the Host was filling in for not just one colleague, but two, I felt it was my honor to listen to him:  he did a fantastic job of floating from one genre topic to another, having three issues covered in the same day would be a challenge, never mind facilitate call ins and text messages while staying upbeat and convincing in his coverage on all three topics.  The topic was dancing around opinions on legalized cannabis (due Oct 17 2018 in Canada) and then bounced over to Privacy and then bounced over to the viral spat that will have financial ramifications to both countries .... 

Publicity disaster
I never thought I'd see what was tweeted become a diplomatic event because I didn't think that people took to heart what was tweeted.  I guess, The Donald has changed that, eh?

Amazon dominates
So many of us buy from Amazon -> naively distracted by their speed of service.  Except today.  This confirmation of an order delivery showed a picture in real time from the front of my house:

La La Ti Da :: 
I can see your house 24 x 7 days a week so that I can prove that you've received the order .... Not that I've had to delay their staff at the door if I don't answer the door right away or happenstance be in the back yard with my dog (often the case) to wait for my signature (like everyone else).

I guess I'm going to have to go back and dig through the agreements to see where I released the right to show them where I live and details:  I could have been sitting in those chairs with my husband.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly on Linked In

"You wouldn't worry about what others think of you if only you realized they seldom do."

~Eleanor Roosevelt

Now that I await my next career pinnacle to begin with an innovative, forward thinking telecommunication company with a solid balance sheet and clear executive management direction (criteria I used when evaluating who I wanted to work for), I am better equipped to step back and think about Linked In clearly and objectively on its benefits as a professional.

THE GOOD:

• OLD Connections: with former colleagues, clients and managers that I otherwise may have lost touch with had I not signed up for Linked In.
• NEW Connections: with thought innovators, active Linked In participants who offer expertise, share knowledge for free WITHOUT trying to sell anything (an application, a trial, a software, a service, information);
• RECOMMENDATIONS: I've been reminded about some of the good I've done in my career when past associates provide Recommendations. The most honorable being the ones who did it without any encouragement, or some of the ones who we faced and collaborated to overcome obstacles together. Reminding me that issues are often not self-induced, often requiring hard work, dividing and conquering, and a positive attitude. People remember how you handled it and fixed matters far longer than what the issues may have been to begin with.
• INFORMATION: Knowledge, learning and sharpening your skills are important in this fast changing world. What mattered yesterday is not what matters today.
• FOLLOW: Linked In makes it easy for you to "FOLLOW" companies or organizations that you are interested or involved in -- be it as a shareholder, investor, vendor, contributor. You can also "FOLLOW" those that inspire you or whom you would like to learn from -- Bill Gates, Richard Branson, to mention a couple that are obvious.
• ENTREPRENEURS: If you are a business owner you should be on top of what is impacting business today. Even if you are ready to cross it off as irrelevant to your own business (i.e. cloud, data or social media), you may want to be informed to avoid pitfalls you may unwillingly be falling into.
• SALES PROFESSIONALS: Linked In, to many sales professionals, is a contact grab and that is about it. Don't just use a name as a contact, title for your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system to keep managers at bay or to accumulate names. You can benefit by "Follow"ing your customers/company for insight on what they are saying or sharing -- so that you can expand your insights and identify opportunities for what you are selling.
• WEB-I-NOMICS: Linked In is a cash cow of information that allows others to gain knowledge. You can curate valuable information for your website that inform and create conversations with your customers, vendors and prospects.
• EXPERTISE: Linked In features are continuously expanding and bringing value to its users. You can collaborate, curate, post, share information that eventually can signify your expertise on subject matters. You can write blog posts to expose your knowledge to draw advocates, followers, colleagues, managers, customers and vendors. Even sharing quotes, articles from third parties, can attract comments or shares that endorse the worthiness of what you are sharing.
• GROUPS: One of the first features I started using was joining a couple of groups that related to my career. They allowed me to participate in discussions, answer questions ... which tested my expertise, collaborated with others, .... or pose questions from others to provide input from the same industry or professional designation (i.e. Project Manager, Business Development, etc). I have made significant contacts that have brought tremendous growth, learning, mentoring and value.
• PRIVACY: You are in control of what others see about you because you personally create your profile. You can set your profile privacy to make it difficult for recruiters, spammers or serial sales people from pitching you (which can be annoying to some if not all). You can also see who has looked at your profile (as long as they don't set themselves as anonymous).
• JOBS: If you are looking for work, Linked In is a superb repository of information on a variety of recruitment firms, looking up the person you may be interviewing with, connecting with those who may bridge an opportunity (i.e. referrals) look up a company, or link to website, etc.
• COMMUNICATE: You can make Linked In what you want it to be. You can reach out, touch base with your contacts. I like Linked In feature of letting me know who has a new job to congratulate them on, celebrating a work anniversary, or even acknowledging a birthday. You can control how you communicate and not disclose your personal email by restricting and staying within Linked In MESSAGES. It does allow you to check off if you don't mind sharing your personal email or as the next step in communications.
• PERSONALIZE: This profile is all about you! How rigid you are filling in the blanks may demonstrate just that. Give insight to your personality, whether it is gregarious or academic, think of your audience and what perception you want them to have. Use the summary if you're bursting with creativity. AND ... for heaven's sake, post a photo. I won't get into the selfies, because we all know if you are on this planet you have a phone with a camera. You may as well use it. Suffice to say, you may be a water skiing enthusiast or were the party favor at the last event, but this is not the place you want to showcase that. Photo finishing has diminished so those businesses offer photo taking services and will even have a scanned image that you can upload at a nominal fee -- think Passport photo with a smile -- smiling is never a bad idea if you want to appear friendly and approachable.
  

THE BAD:

• SELF-PROCLAIMED EXPERTS: There are so many "Experts" on Linked In my head spins at times. In fact, if someone states "EXPERT" on the profile, my first reaction is to think "NOT!". Ultimately, expertise is a label that others give you. It is often demonstrated by a lot of credible Recommendations from subject matter professionals.
• SELF-PROMOTION: If all you post is me, myself, I ... that is about all who is going to be reading what you post. Your connections will appreciate posts and shares that are interesting and relevant to a professional audience.
• ANONYMITY: Privacy protection and security are front and center in many people and company's minds. Therefore, they will set their privacy by default to remain anonymous. On the flip side, I'm not sure others feel the same way, lurking a profile under cover can be annoying to the recipient. In my opinion, being open also relays credibility. I am certain there are a variety of reasons why persons want to remain hidden, I'm just not a fan of this practice.
• COSTS: Nothing is ever free 100%. Linked In is accountable for its financials and creates nuggets to entice you to subscribe to additional features and benefits. At least it isn't hidden and you can see your options and determine what is best for you. Heck, you can probably write it off as a professional subscription or networking expense.
• ENDORSEMENTS: With the added feature of "Endorsements" comes questioning (to me anyhow) how important or how much weight others play on this feature. For example, if you have a lot of connections, you may not do business with them personally -- how can they truly attest to the skill being endorsed? The user selects the skills on their profile, which is flagged in front of their connections to endorse them. However, it is cool when an associate endorses you that you do know -- it can be a signal that they recognize that ability. The user can distinguish this, while the audience cannot. Alternatively, if someone endorses you, do you feel obliged to endorse them for something that you may not have professionally experienced?
• AWARENESS: Linked In helps entrepreneurs, executives, employees and companies have presence on its pages. I'm amazed when I suggest to someone to get a profile up and they hesitate or avoid it altogether, citing the reason as privacy. In today's world, that is hardly an excuse but certainly it is everyone's prerogative. I also suggest that if you have a company or organization, create your Company Page. Don't assume either that since it is there that it should remain dormant. Like your website, keep it updated and relevant to the audience or customers you want to attract. If you are recruiting, use the job boards, search out potential candidates profiles, their links, comments, posts to get a feel for the person. The chances are they will be doing the same of you.
• BRANDING: Be on top of your brand, whether it is "ME, INC." or a major named corporation. Monitor what people may be saying about your CEO, HR, executive, management or culture. It may start out as a minor squeak but could erupt into a public relations nightmare. Identify and acknowledge who is responsible for this. You'd be surprised how many people stray off topic in groups to give examples of poor treatment by a professional or company. Encourage your employees to be on Linked In, leverage it for the knowledge it presents, and champion subject matter expertise by participation.

THE UGLY:

• INVITATIONS: This is an area I've spoken to colleagues and associates about. It seems many are annoyed by invitations to connect from people "out of the blue" that they don't know. Again, this is something you can control. You can choose to ignore any invitations from parties unknown. I do suggest if you are compelled with the urge to connect with someone - send the invitation with an explanation as to why you would benefit (or better yet how they may) by connecting and exchanging information via posts. Personally, I professionally had my vision and goal to work for a specific company and searched who I perceived the hiring managers would be and sent an invitation. Lo and behold, this is the same company I will start working for at the end of August! I hardly think a company representative is going to blow you off. Everyone in every company is a customer service representative, whether they have it on their title or not!
• MESSAGES: Theoretically, the only inbound messages you should get are from those that are a connection. However, Linked In offers a paid feature as part of subscription packages called IN-MAIL. The package you subscribe to determines the number of IN-MAIL messages you are allowed -- which are basically unsolicited messages from others. If you are a recruiter, in marketing or a social media advocate, you may have more connections than average. That can also lend itself to a larger number of virtual strangers messaging you.
• DATING: Linked In is not a dating site. Unfortunately, some boneheads do try to use it as a soft way of introducing themselves and approaching you if you inadvertently accepted the invitation under the umbrella of business networking. I hear ya ... but they can't seem to read the "Married" part of your profile.
• SOLICITATION: Even if you actively monitor who your contacts are or are selective, you will often find yourself a recipient of a message that solicits (or recommends) a service, software, product or site. Message to senders: This is not a wise way of prospecting, never mind cold calling a complete stranger. Use it as a tool to gather information, not send information.
• PRIVACY: You go through all that trouble of keeping your information private, being selective on who you network with then BAM! Some nerd (to be polite) sends out a group message and you find your name muddled in with a bunch of other people. Yes, pretty much everyone is shaking their head before X-ing you out of their connections after you disclosed their name. People can look up your connections but be respectful of that information. I advise you stay clear of group messaging. That's not networking anyhow, that is broadcasting. There is an appropriate feature that Linked In offers by telling you that you have a connection within a certain company that you can reach out to and request a referral.
• GRAMMAR: Some may wonder why I include this ... it should never get too old to continually remind people to check their spelling on their profiles -- you are promotingYOU and who you represent/work for and you owe everyone attention to detail. Even if it is just a comment, ensure that you use proper grammar and check for spelling ... heck, double check the spelling of the person's name if you are going to use it. (I have distinct spelling for my name and it is often misspelled). Run your summary or post through a Word software program and spell check it before uploading is a good idea.
• CLUTTER: As with any website that has experienced growth, you may have noticed Linked In has a lot going on your page when you visit. It uses intuitive software to predict who, what you should know, what you are interested in reading based on past clicks. There are far more article suggestions now that populate Linked In as they opened up the ability for anyone to post. The choices you make, the clicks you enter, and the time you spend on Linked In is your own individual preference.
• COMPETITION: There isn't much competition to Linked In on professional social networking, however, they are still competing for your attention while you are online. They will continue to navigate and update thus change is a given. They will continue to tempt you with subscription benefits in order to continue generating a revenue stream. I predict that what you see for free will eventually be eroded or what you want expanded upon charged for.  
• AUTHORITY: As endorsements continually grow along with the number of people who are writing posts, it may be getting more confusing as to whom really has the authority on a topic. Linked In chooses a number of Followers you have on your Posts, so it is basically a numbers game. (I'm not sure how they do it, but I gather that it is a combination of your network number and how likely people are to read or share your posts and what that additional viewership entails). A higher profile is typically dependent on who you are (i.e. Bill Gates), how many followers you attract, or have the number of comments on your posts will indicate expertise based on those numbers. If you have a post that gains a lot of attention, it could be recommended by Linked In under its PULSE highlights.
• NEGATIVITY: You can see for yourself in groups or on posts. Sometimes, heated debates erupt or I think some people say silly things to get attention, albeit often negative. You are what you post, comment, write and it is your personal brand that you are impacting. Treat it genuinely and respectfully.
• MANNERS: Thank you are the two most powerful words in business, social media, Linked In, or anywhere. Be known for your manners. Be honest, be authentic. If someone compliments a post or shares it, thank them. Social media in all its glory boils down to "if you scratch my back, I will scratch your's". There are a number of examples, but one that maybe is not a right or realistic expectation .... if you notice you have a fan who continuously comments, compliments or shares your posts, recognize them by name and say "Thank you". If you can, even read some of their posts and comment or hit like if that is how you feel.

There you have it: the good, the bad and the ugly of Linked In. I'm sure there are a lot a great experiences along with a few nightmares. The bottom line is, it is a great repository of YOUR career information. Think of it as a tool. How well it works for you is how attuned you are.

"I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends."

~Abraham Lincoln

INFORMATION overload or PRIVACY invasion? A new era of advertising.

“I have a theory about the human mind. A brain is a lot like a computer. It will only take so many facts, and then it will go on overload and blow up.”

~Erma Bombeck

We're all bombarded by information overload with "BUY ME" screaming at us everywhere.  It doesn't matter if you're on a solo drive to work or on transit, relaxing at home -- we ARE surrounded by advertisements:  the radio, billboards, bus ads, vehicle wraps. We log on to our computers at home to check our email or check our social media to see what family or friends are up to and even that is surrounded with banner ads.  

Certainly, information is getting more personalized.  Some folks even go so far as to say that too much trust is innocently being handed over to the big engines who monitor our clicks to tailor what we see.  Oh, boy.  Sure sounds like "Big Brother" has arrived doesn't it?  Of course.  There it is: the popular TV show where you can watch people hang out all day and night, get into fights, delve into relationships, intimate or lead others. That's entertainment!

There are plenty of people that are opposed to signing up to social media platforms, holding out and not caving in to what seemingly everyone is doing.  There are definitely good reason for many.  Except, if you think you are avoiding anything, you're being snowed.  Those individuals may see it as a waste of time, perceive narcissism, or simply state that they don't want to broadcast what they're thinking, watching, reading.   Privacy right? 

I'll admit, sometimes when I'm driving I may happen to notice a billboard or transit ad on the back of the bus I'm behind.  Usually the image first catches my eye and if I'm stopped at a stop light,  I might even notice the caption or tag line ... and then .... yes, there it is - the ULTIMATE:  the website.  OK, I ask myself, where is the address?  What about a phone number?  I'm expected to remember the website so then I can go look it up?  Geezwhiz.

Oh, wait a minute, where is that pen/paper or my soft phone to capture a photo of the moving ad to write the website down while I'm DRIVING! That seems pretty dumb, almost hilarious to me.  At least laughing out loud would be safer than juggling steering wheel, feet on the pedal, while keeping your eyes on the road.  Oh right, they want to take your eyes off the road so that you will pay attention to the ad, and memorize the website.  We're not burnt out from work, our eyes are not tired.  We want to jump up and say -- I wanna look that up by golly! 

Forget kissing your spouse, asking your kids how their day went, or walking the dog.  First thing you will do is fire up the computer, log on to the computer to go to the website before you turn on the television or pick up the paper .... all which are tempting you with alternative offers to distract you so you forget about it until you are cleaning up the car you find the rumpled piece of paper or looking for what to delete off your phone to free up space.  By then, you probably won't even remember why you had it to begin with or your budget is already blown. Come to think of it, somebody else is spending  pretty big budgets to tell us to go to a website?

What about when the television is flipped on to relax.  Yeah right!  Who can watch anything these days without being irritated by so many television ads?  Flip on over to Netflix, AMC or HBO special programs and notice if there aren't any product placements with brand logos?  Not too often.

Have I made my point:  Someone is making a lot of dough justifying unsafe habits or invading your privacy so that you will only go to their WEBSITE. 

“There are many things of which a wise man might wish to be ignorant” 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson