I've always been impressed by the depth and variety of experience that so many Skillfair members have, and that's been reflected in the testimonials, references and other information they've provided for quality checking purposes. We've now added a new feature to the system that allows members to display their key memberships and accreditations alongside the quality rating - so clients can see immediately who is 'Prince Qualified' or a 'Chartered Marketer' for example. We'll be contacting the various professional bodies over the next few weeks for permission to use their logos so members will only be able to display their credentials if they've provided evidence of these to us. Once you're a full member of Skillfair you'll be able to add further detail to your profile, as well as your professional credentials, all of which boosts your own website presence on search engines.
Of course qualifications are only part of the story, they're a good way of demonstrating commitment to your profession and distinguishing yourself from other less well-qualified providers. But once you're in touch with a client the various bits of paper are much less important than what you actually do and unfortunately it is much easier to damage a good reputation than it is to build one in the first place. We've had feedback from a few project owners recently that messages they've received have included some fairly obvious spelling mistakes. In a competitive market it's easy to rush your response to any enquiry but it's more important than ever to check and double-check before sending any message - you may be the first to respond, but if you give the wrong impression you'll also be the first on the reject pile.
PS having made that comment about checking things carefully I went live with the new feature without my usual double check that everything was OK - Doh! Apologies to anyone who tried to use it on Friday and was frustrated - all OK now and I promise to be more careful next time :-(
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