Picture this. You are looking for a new job and have found one on LinkedIn or the local papers for which your profile is a perfect match. Or to make the picture better, a Head Hunter has found you on LinkedIn, fallen in love with your profile and writes asking you to send your updated CV for a position that will take your career to a new level.

So you update your CV, write a smashing cover letter but because you don’t want your current employers to get wind of this, you give your private email address as GodzillaFries@hotmail.com.

Ever wondered what impact it would make on the other person? Not very favorable, I can assure you, unless of course your name is Godzilla Fries or the other person knows the story behind Godzilla Fries from school!

Why Godzilla Fries (at) Hotmail (dot) com won’t work for your personal brand

Believe it or not but your email address provides a great opportunity for your to build your personal brand.

And how is that?

The answer to that question with some more tips and ideas are the focus of the second video on 3 Branding Tips for Careerists with slides.

Update 12 May 2018 – I’ve added the transcript at the bottom for ease of use. 

Do check it out and please remember to leave a comment on what you discovered!

Till next time, enjoy!

3 branding tips for careerists’ transcript added on 12 May 2018

Hi, this is Vatsala Shukla from Karmic Ally Coaching and I’m back again with part 2 of my series, 3 Branding Tips for Careerists.

Now if you remember from the first part when I was talking about creating your profiles using different social media tools and the requirement to think about brand, we’ve already looked at how we want people to see you.

Today I’m going to pick up another point and that is, how people contact you or what email address you’re leaving when you want to be contacted.

So here we go!

My question to you is – what email address are you using?

You wouldn’t believe it but that also makes a big difference as to your brand.

Now if your email address is catnip@hotmail.com, would you actually connect with a professional on LinkedIn?

I mean, what kind of an impression does it give you by saying dog bone or say Hot Mama at Hotmail dot com?

Not a very good impression I can assure you. Especially if you don’t have a photograph or you have a very unprofessional photograph. The same holds for Twitter or Facebook or any other social media platform that you are planning to use.

And my question to you is – How about Gmail?

Just take a second to think about it. If you’re answer was, yes, why not to Gmail, then I’d say you’re absolutely correct because Gmail in general gives a more positive reputation than Hotmail or any other internet service provider and at the same time you also have the added advantage of being linked to other Google tools which also helps to build your online relationships like, you have access to Google Plus.

That is one area or social media platform where you can share information with others and you can actually increase your circle or improve your networking and in general email address gives a very good opportunity for you to build your brand.

In an ideal world, if you could afford it, I’d say you must have a domain email address like mine is vatsala(at)karmicallycoaching(dot)com. But if you don’t have a domain name email address, then Gmail is still the better option. As I mentioned earlier, it gives you a more positive reputation than Hotmail or other internet service providers.

It has the added advantage of being linked to other Google tools that help to build online relationships and find other people and actually increase your network.

It’s not just limited to LinkedIn where people might not accept your invitation but in Google Plus you can actually circle people and hopefully they will like your profile and circle you back.

Update February 2024

 Google Plus was discontinued on 2 April 2019 and all users were transitioned to Google Currents. On February 10, 2022, Google announced that it would be planning to “wind down” Currents and transition its users to Google Chat in 2023.

Now when it comes to Gmail, I just wanted to raise a point as to what kind of an address should you have again. Not (again) catnip@gmail.com or hotmama@gmail.com or TwinkyToes@gmail.com .

Instead, make sure it is still professional. Now some schools of thought say you should have it as first name dot last name at gmail.com and my own personal view is that it is a personal choice and you really must consider security and are certain about what kind of an email address you are planning to set up.

So choose your email address wisely.

And as a bonus tip, if you wish to network, I would even suggest your email signature which is another opportunity to create brand name impression and you can ask yourself what we really need.

For example, should you give your phone number? Do you have a blog? You can add that also as well as other links to your social media profiles.

So think about your email address and next time I’ll tell you more about a third tip that’s quite important as well as share another bonus tip.

You can connect with me at my website. All my connectivity details are available on this page.

Take care and bye for now!

What email do you use? Does it enhance your Professional Brand?

Share with me in the comments box below.

Want to learn more about networking and raising your executive presence?

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Written By: Vatsala Shukla

Many years ago, while working for an insurance company as their Finance Director, I worked with a Country Manager who was rarely in the office at lunch time. Not only that, but his lunch was also always an hour compared to the company policy of 30 minutes.

As Finance Director, I knew the numbers better than anyone else and saw the revenue figures rising. It appeared that the more the Country Manager was out of the office for lunch, the higher the numbers! The proportional correlation confounded me until I learned the technique.

At one of our weekly management meetings, the main agenda item related to the company’s failure to meet the monthly sales targets for health & accident insurance.  This particular insurance product is a numbers game since the premiums are low and volumes need to be high. Moreover, since this product was not re-insured, it was pure revenue for the company.

We were asked to look at our networks to find leads. While I was never involved in the marketing side, I thought of one of the ladies in my Ladies Who Lunch network (yes, ladies too network!). Her husband was the head of a major multinational where there was a chance.

With the Country Manager’s approval, I arranged a lunch meeting and quietly observed the conversation between boss and friend’s husband. Pleasantries were exchanged from the time we ordered soup till the main course was served.

By the time dessert was ordered, there were talks of my company making a proposal for business.

The happy ending of this story is that we got a major client, sales for the product made up for 2 months targets and I was encouraged to go out and have lunch at company expense with people other than the auditors!

From a networking point of view, for the contact to be effective, it is important to learn more about the person that we are interacting with.

Simply attending networking events and handing out cards left, right and center is not of much use. You need to make a connection which provides a platform for a follow up call or meeting.

Networking with colleagues especially those in different departments of your organization can provide crucial contacts if the success of your project requires intra-company interaction. One doesn’t even have to step out to fancy restaurant – just meet up at the company canteen and have lunch together while discussing your project.

6 Tips to Network over lunch like a True Professional 

However, meeting up with a colleague for lunch or taking someone out to lunch will not be effective unless you have a plan for the final outcome. Even then, some finesse is required.

Based on what I learned from my boss, the 6 tips I offer are

• Be an attentive listener and learn more about the other person.

• Try to identify common interests and converse on the same to build rapport with the other person.

• Don’t hijack the conversation. Show interest in the person & ask questions to learn more.

• Be sincere and avoid invading their privacy.

•  Once rapport is established then proceed to discuss business or projects

• Make sure there is a win-win situation. If the benefits are more in your favor, consider net-weaving to offer something back. Your credibility goes up and you have a contact for life.

Do you have any tips to enhance the power of your network outside the office?

Please do share in the comments box below!

PS. One of the readers had referred to an awesome book by Keith Ferrazzi Never Eat Alone. This is a must read book which has been updated to take networking in the digital era into account. Have a look at this global bestseller by clicking on the image.

Start your Hero Journey with Karmic Ally Coaching’s Executive Presence Checklist. Click on the image below and complete the form for access. It’s on the house!

Written by: Vatsala Shukla