Articles by Upendo Ventures

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Our team loves to share our thoughts, research, experiences here in our blog. Please enjoy our articles and leave a comment to let us know what you think.

Using Google Alerts To Monitor and Grow Your Brand

Upendo Ventures Digital Marketing

One of the number one things I speak about with clients is brand, or branding.  In fact, when embarking on any project, internal or external, it’s probably the very first thing that we discuss.  This is especially true with small businesses and businesses who need to employ local and social media marketing strategies.  You need to first know what your brand is, how to speak about your brand (with as few words as possible), and how people should perceive your brand.  Most importantly, what will people say about your brand when you’re not looking?

Should You Accept That LinkedIn Connection Request?

Bruce Lee:

In most social networks, connecting with someone else can feel like a personal decision.  After all, if you accept a friend request in Facebook, you’ve just given access to all of your “private” images and updates.  They’ll see that embarrassing photo of you at the beach.  {GASP!}  This has trained us to be weary of who we allow to be “connected” with us online.  So much so that some people have private Twitter accounts.  (Something that I have yet to understand.)

Embracing the Jack of All Trades in Yourself

What would you say you do here?

This article isn’t for everyone, but if you’ve found yourself reading this far, you probably consider yourself a jack-of-all-trades, or someone has said that about you.  It’s a double-edged sword to be known as someone who can do everything.  As the saying goes, “Jack-of-all-trades, master of none.”  When you’re good at a lot of things, it’s highly unlikely that you’re an expert at any one of those things.  This makes you difficult to hire in most cases, but don’t fret.  This also makes you one of the most valuable people in any company you find yourself in.

Avoid the 7 Deadly Sins of LinkedIn Photos

Avoid the 7 Deadly Sins of LinkedIn Photos

In many ways, LinkedIn is just like every other social network.  It allows you to create a profile.  You add details about yourself, upload your preferred photo, and connect with other people.  You post status updates, and like and/or comment on updates by others.  However, as we continuously point out on this site, LinkedIn is not like every other social network.  You need to carefully consider how you update your profile on LinkedIn, beginning with your profile photo.

Why You Should Focus on LinkedIn to Build Your Brand

LinkedIn chocolates

When LinkedIn first came about, we weren’t sure what to do with it.  MySpace was still around, and it was battling with Facebook for our social networking attention (albeit, at this point, MySpace was in the decline already).  It wasn’t unusual for most of us to think, “Why should I use LinkedIn? I already use Facebook (or Twitter).”  The fact of the matter is this, LinkedIn isn’t going anywhere, and it’s the single most powerful thing that you can use to build your brand.