Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Are you judging me? I'm judging you.


I'm not judging you in a mean evil way, but when I land on your blog or your web site, I, like so many other people am making educated guesses (judgments) about you and the type of person you may be.
I say this to say that the image we leave hanging out there for the whole world to look at is important, very important.

Our skill is not wrapped up in the way we dress, the new shoes we bought for the interview, or our beautiful hair ... but those things do reflect how we feel about ourselves.

As artists, marketing ourselves online, it is important to keep our physical and web presence where we want it to be; we must represent ourselves well. The REALITY is people DO judge a book by its cover, people DO assume things when they land on your blog and the layout is sloppy, people DO make judgments when EVERY time they see you it looks like you flopped out of bed and just stayed like that. Knowing that people do make judgment calls, stop fighting that (if you are), embrace it and USE it to your benefit.

  • If you are like me and you know your website needs change to appear more professional or trendy, then do it (I promise to work on mine this week).
  • If your blog or business card needs a makeover, give it one, now. When you're out there on the web for ALL to see, you'll never know who is looking ... unless you have Google Analytics.
  • If you are like me and you leave the house in need of a comb, or a new shirt, or just a little bit more effort, more times than not, then go ahead and make that change.
  • Set aside a little more money or time for maintenance every month. Take control of the image that publishers, agents, directors, execs and the rest of the world sees.

Let's not moan and complain about the world and how it perceives us, let's take control of that perception by taking care of the things that need it.
photo: notsogoodphotography

10 comments:

  1. So true! Great post, Regina. We are told so often to be ourselves and not care what people think of us and I agree to a certain point. But we have to acknowledge that this is how the world works and if we want to make a good impression, then we need to care.

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  2. I'm definitely judgmental, but that trends more moralistic than aesthetic, b/c, well... um, I'm a boy and I'm not so hot at knowing what's hot ;)

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  3. Great advice! People do judge a book by it's cover.

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  4. Word. I realized shortly after starting to blog that the layout I had carefully chosen was actually in wide use. There's nothing wrong with that layout, but I wanted my blog to stand out a little, and while my layout now is still a template, it's one that I think is very visually appealing and somewhat unique. I wanted it to be professional and clean, and I'm glad I made the change now.

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  5. Good points. I actually would like to get my blog custom-designed but I worry if I pay someone to do it and don't like it, I'll be stuck with it!

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  6. Great post! I had professional pictures made for my blog and upcoming website. I'm just itching to get them back. I took your advice and went with Yola (for my husband's business) and I'm still working to get my site up and running. By the way, I LOVE your new header. Did you design that yourself?

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  7. Very interesting thoughts and true but it depends on the reasons a person is blogging...

    Some of the best writen blogs get no comments...
    Some of the worst get a ton - (if they have neat pictures)
    Some have great info. (but are boring topics)

    Judging is done through a large number of ways...
    People look at your viewcount, blog responces and past blogs... Sneaky ads or blatant ads etc. there are a ton of things to look at.

    I think in blog land you can write the way you speak and get away with it...

    You think about this stuff quite a bit and have very interesting points.

    Have a great day

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  8. Interesting post. All we have is our reputation. Should someone judge the other because they have different tastes though?

    We all can't be prim and proper! We have diversity and we should remember that.

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  9. Great points! I better go do my hair....LOL!

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  10. Marsha- Agreed.

    L.T.- I think your layout is very unique. It definitely stands out.

    Stephanie- I can understand that. It does cost a lot of money sometimes. Some people offer a satisfaction clause though.

    Amy- I can't wait to see the new stuff! Yes, I designed the header. Thank you.

    Tom- Indeed, there are so many factors. Flashiness doesn't reflect on the quality of content. I just think that if you have great content, it doesn't hurt to package it well.

    Corvedacosta- Diversity is important. People should present the image they want to. I'm trying to go for professional and somewhat trendy ... we'll see.

    J.J.- That's funny because I actually NEED to do something with mine.

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