Let Your Online Presence Do the Talking

Let your online presence do the talking

The year is 2013, over 50% of the world’s population is under 30 years old, Facebook has more than 1 billion members worldwide and every second LinkedIn adds 2 new members to their database.[1] The world we live in has gone digital. We have the ability to communicate with anyone we’d like at any point in time and receive almost instant feedback. Most of us carry all of this, in our pockets, on our smartphones – with more than 50% off all mobile users in the US being smartphone users, we literally carry the world in our hands.[2]

While most of us will relate to this digital shift as a new way to interact with friends and family, it will have a significant impact on your professional life as well. LinkedIn, the biggest ‘professional social network’ out there, currently has more than 225 Million members. This new online landscape is changing how companies hire new talent as they realize it is cheaper, faster and it allows them to reach a larger audience. The online world also allows recruiters to attract ‘passive’ candidates – candidates that are not actively looking but might be interested in the right opportunity.[3]  This goes to show that even while you might not be looking for a new opportunity actively, they can still be handed to you on a silver platter if you have an online presence.

Even though LinkedIn might be the go-to place for professionals, your presence on other websites can have an equally important influence to your professional career. While it might not be vital to have a Tumblr account or an Instagram feed when you’re applying for a position in private banking, not showing up on any social websites when a recruiter searches your name can be a cause for suspicion – ‘what is this applicant trying to hide?’ – and a lost opportunity to impress whoever was out there trying to find out more about you.

While we’re not trying to encourage you to go and subscribe to every forum/social network/dating site you can think of, we do recommend you to go out on the web and explore which sites might be beneficial for you to be on, and give them a try. You’ll probably enjoy it a lot more than you would think, and who knows, it might land you your next job.

Thanks for reading,

Damien de Bruijn

Board Member

Centre for Entrepreneurship 

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[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUCfFcchw1w

[2] http://adage.com/article/digital/a-majority-u-s-mobile-users-smartphone-users/241717/

[3] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/16/business/smallbusiness/online-recruiting-efforts-gain-ground.html

Being Geographically Aware: Consider location before starting your company?

Before starting your company an initial consideration may be the place or state that your business can thrive in. For example, if you are planning on starting an innovative company in the United States you may head for the traditional base of Silicon Valley. However, according to Fast Company magazine, they proposed ten alternatives for which you could start your new company;

1. Florida

2. Texas

3. Maryland

4. Arizona

5. Alaska

6. California

7. Colorado

8. New York

9. New Jersey

10. Washington, D.C.

As well as submerging your business within a familiar external environment, you may also want to consider other factors, such as tax rates and household income.

Tax Rates 

I think one very important factor to be considered is tax level. For example, Florida, Texas and Alaska all have low tax rates compared to States such as New York, California and Maryland who tip the upper echelon of tax rates.

Household Income 

According to Fast Company Magazine, household income does not determine startup success because; “There is a reasonable hypothesis that areas that are fertile for startups are fertile at a point in time, such as Detroit in the 1890s, “says Ed Glaeser, Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard. “Startups come, they succeed and then it becomes progressively less friendly as the area becomes wealthier. A few dominant firms emerge and they eventually end up pushing out startups. Areas then have to find a way to reinvent themselves” (Fast Company, 2013).

Through an analysis of the graph above, Florida is the number one place to set up your business in the United States because;

1. Locally Focused Ambitions

2. Collaborative Calendar is Full

3. Money is being spent on local requirements.

Thank you very much for reading my article on startups in America, if you would like to discuss my topic with me further then please do not hesitate to contact me at all.

Sona Stefkova

Board Member

Centre for Entrepreneurship