I spend a lot of time at LinkedIn and with Soloists, SOHOs and SME operators. One of the things that always intrigues me is the lack of thinking that goes into their professional title. 'Director' for example says nothing about what you do except that you have have a $2 shelf company. And for anyone who hasn't got an ACN, just an ABN then you are lying when you have 'Director' on your card unless you are a film or TV director. But I digress.
A compelling professional title is an essential part of triggering a positive gut reaction from a prospective client/customer/employee/supplier/associate etc
Look through LinkedIn and it won't take long before you see the soloists who are simply 'owner' or 'designer'. That leaves me cold and with no real interest to find out more.
But there is a flip side when soloists go to the other extreme. I think that a designer, working away by themselves is having a giant wank when they use a title like 'Chief Creative Officer'. This is a real title and reserved for those who really do all the tasks and have all the responsibilities associated with the title like Lee Clow of TBWA/Chiat/Day, who has now seen the title devalue to a point where he is now Global Director of Media Arts. How long before some soloist pinches that one?
My maybe-soon-to-be-former wife has a great title; 'Director and Chief Storyteller'. It speaks volumes in milliseconds. She runs a boutique PR consultancy, Left Field. When married together in a business card for example, or email footer, she is able to communicate a myriad of positive brand attributes.
In my careers I've had many titles including Senior Creative (which just made me sound old at 30), Associate Creative Director (which made me sound like a fill in CD) and other titles which were really just job functions and altogether unimpressive. These were when I was working for large corporations.
At Mister Big my title is 'XXL'. Get it? Everyone does and laughs. Relationship built. Memory made.
At Left Field we developed a formula for all staff titles; Job function (tells people what you do) 2 things you were good at (one semi-serious/one for fun). So Virginia Kim was Account Executive, Speed Ball Master and Phone-a-friend. Mine was Creative Director, Chief Swashbuckler and Know-of-things. At the very least we each always got comments on our cards when handing them out. Can you say the same thing? Does your card help to build relationships with prospects or just fall into the ho-hum yawn circular filing cabinet.
So think about your title. Think about your market. Think about how you can stand out from your competitors. In these tough economic times creating a laugh, making a memory and starting a relationship with a prospect is going to earn you serious kudos.
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