One may ask what exactly is a reputation and what does it mean?
Your actions plus what other people say about you equals your reputation. A good reputation is the most powerful and important leverage you can have in life , as a business owner and both of these areas are the key to your success in any career. You may have heard a lot of people say, you should not be concerned with what other’s think or say about you, but I disagree with this statement. Why? Whether it is an employer offering you a new job in your career field or your CEO offering you a raise and higher position, other people often are the key factor to decide your fate. It only takes a small sway from a trusted contact or reference to get you in the door or push you out the door. This day and age being 2018 it is very important to be aware and completely understand and think more about reputation and reputation management which is a key topic to business ethics and a proper career readiness skill. Reputation and reputation management are even more important in 2018 than it was in the past. We need to be very careful about how we present ourselves professionally in the flesh as well as online in 2018. A good reputation and the first impression you make on clients, community,online, your team, and employers is the key to your success and can also destroy you and your career in instantly if not consistently maintained on a long term basis. Rebuilding your reputation or building a reputation to the point of it being a good reputation as well as consistently maintaining a good reputation on a long term basis is the secret and the key factor to success in any career one may have and is a very important career readiness skill and also a very important business ethic skill on a local, national and yes even international level. I am a graphic design specialist with a few other trades under my belt and for the graphic design field alone coming from a trade school graduate level of knowledge. Before you get to an associates or bachelors in multimedia graphic design I recommend mastering this topic and learning about this topic of building a good reputation before you go any further than a graphic design specialist trade certificate because this is a very important business ethic skill that will help you before you get educated in the creative art director part of the graphic design career. And this is important not just for the graphic design and business field of study but for any career one may pursue because any employer will base all the hiring of new employees off this one key factor reputation and people who have a good reputation to start are likely to get hired faster than someone who has a poor reputation.
Here are ten of the basic guidelines and the backbone of building a good reputation:
1. Do what you say you are going to do, and then do it.
2. Go out of your way to help other people succeed and reach their goals.
3. Show other people your thanks, gratitude and make other people look good.
4. Go above and beyond expectations and be an over achiever.
5. Dress professionally, stay well groomed and maintain great hygiene.
6. Show proper body language facing body towards audience, listen, do not interrupt, make eye contact, smile here and there use appropriate hand gestures and head nods, be confident and act like you know exactly what you are doing, do not lie.
7. Be consistent, authentic, and also be on time and never be too early prepared to work.
8. Act with integrity and honesty, never be greedy or selfish.
9. Get involved with your community in flesh and online. Volunteer, offer free advice, offer kind words and simple acts of kindness, offer free services, give away free products and music if you are a musician like me. Never charge for anything from the start but always have something to give for free even when you start getting a profit.
10.) Be a likable, trustworthy, well respected person, all ways offer kind words, acts of kindness, handshakes even to strangers in public, in flesh, online and anywhere and everywhere.
By doing this consistently on a regular long term basis. And fining your core traits and building a business plan and mission statement or just goals in life and sticking to it on a regular, consistent long term basis. You will begin to build a good reputation that you will be known for and remembered for and you will not have to sell yourself or brag anymore because other people will start doing this for you in a good way as long as you immediately as of today September 26th 2018 begin to fix your reputation or start to build a good reputation and maintain this reputation consistently on a long term basis. And remember this will take time and will not happen over night but will be well worth your effort and this is the key to any successful person, any success in any career, and the secret to any business, business owner, graphic designer, creative art director, etc. And this is the key to anyone’s success in life in general and will help you become a like able, respected, trustworthy and very successful person which will help you in the future to get leads, referrals, clients,jobs,raises and make sales. Failure to become educated about reputation and failure to build a good reputation and consistently maintain a good reputation on a long term basis will cause you, your career and life to fail, fall apart and immediately be ruined by facts I have researched in the research to develop and write this important article. I hope that this article will help you become successful and find purpose in your life and career and I hope you find this article of value.