What Does Your Positioning Say About You?

One of my recruiter friends, Samuel Dergel of CFO2Grow in Canada, added an important comment to my blog post yesterday about business cards. It reminded me that this blog post has been sitting on the back burner for months and perhaps now was the time to get it finished and posted.

Samuel addressed the importance of having your business cards “professionally” developed. He’s right. If you’re at a networking event, your business card is the last impression people take with them. Is the Finance Executive they just shook hands with the same professional reflected on the business card they have in their hand? If it’s cheap or if there is advertising on the back (that means they were free) … what message is that sending? And, is it the message you intend to send?

The same can be said should you decide to create a blog or upload your resume to the Web. If you choose a free site, it means you are also choosing a page that is overrun with advertising … ads over which you have no control either! But my point is about the image that landing page (whether blog or resume) sends. Does it exude executive branding (this guy is worth every cent if we can get him) or is it a poster for commodity (average, just one of many)?

I do believe that a credible online and offline presence is key for Chief Financial Officers and other Senior Finance Executives. If you choose to have business cards and a web presence, then choose to create them in a way that furthers your brand rather than detracting from it.