The Digital Revolution is accelerating our access to knowledge and revolutionized how we communicate. Success in life is a function of both what we know and how we build interpersonal relationships. Networking is a learned skill and does not require the personality of an extrovert. A memorable introductory conversation and exchange of business cards will increase relationship capital after applying a process for patient and purposeful follow-up. Creating a network of trusted friends and colleagues, who will provide information, introductions, mentoring and partnership, will expand your personal and professional opportunity set.

Our individual ability to build new relationships, foster trust, and earn respect all contributes to building a reputation. By its very definition, reputation is an intangible and complex concept because it is comprised of impressions, emotions and perceptions. All organizations achieve results from their reputation. The internet has empowered the consumer and revolutionized how information that was once printed in newspapers or shared on the nightly evening news can be created by anyone and accessed from a device that fits comfortably in the palm of our hand. Individual and firm success are now directly correlated with how and what is communicated online. Every day there are 5.5 billion searches performed for a plethora of reasons, including finding a restaurant in a new city, buying mom a gift, or researching the next firm to engage. The world is literally at our fingertips, but most people only bother to go through detailed information on first page of Google. In fact, 94% of people only look at the first page of Google search results.

Consumers value interacting with businesses and service providers with positive online reputation. When promoted effectively online, digital marketing helps businesses accelerate their growth. Conversely, negative information circulating on the internet can harm businesses and ruin personal lives. Firms lose contracts, employees lose jobs, and most importantly – their reputation.A digital presence and online communication strategy are not just part of a company’s reputation, they form a company’s foundation and the most critical component to its survival and growth.

Today, we interact with friends, family, and colleagues, more so than ever before, through text messages, email, and social media, where perception and reality are often confused. If we don’t like change, we will like irrelevance even less. Our digital presence and online first impression are critical. Businesses must focus on online reputation management to successfully align their strategic communication with client, partner and investor preferences. Moreover, proactive reputation management, affords business owners and executives, insight, into their, strengths, and weaknesses.

Every internet search, yields, a search engine results page, known as a SERP. Every second, there are 63,000 Google searches, and every day there are 5.5 billion. People perform these searches for countless reasons. They may be casually googling a company from a sponsored Instagram post or, aggressively searching, for a new attorney, accountant, or financial planner to hire immediately. They might even be googling you. It’s a fair bet that, anyone, we hand, our, business card will search us online for more information. Positive online reviews from real clients, and digital assets, will foster trust. Conversely, negative or defamatory links on the internet will quickly damage our offline reputation.The best reputation offense is a strong defense. A proactive presence builds digital resilience, protects a firm’s reputation, and makes it easier to repair reputational damage. Your reputation is your most valuable asset. Make sure you’re safeguarding it everywhere, especially online.

The Digital FinTech Revolution is accelerating our access to knowledge, transforming how we communicate, and creating a wave of digital disruption that will reshape the financial services industry. As regulators and banks refocus on updating their policies and operating models, the next generation of FinTech platforms, including robo advisory, blockchain, digital payment, Bank in a box, security, and P2P lending, are already off to the races.Global investment in financial technology rapidly increased by 3,770% from $930 million in 2008 to $31 billion in 2017. The opportunity to innovate for quantitative finance professionals has never been more compelling than it is today.

An entrepreneurial mindset represents a truly unique opportunity for today’s students and tomorrow’s leaders. Flexibility, creativity, and intellectual freedom often catalyze an entrepreneur’s desire to start a business. Entrepreneurship, a fundamental driver of our global economy, is defined by French Economist, J. B. Say [1767–1832], as a shift of economic resources out of an area of lower productivity into an area of higher productivity and yield. This is also true of intrapreneurs, defined as those who apply an entrepreneurial to their employment culture. Intrapreneurs often become entrepreneurs. An acute understanding of the intangibles or ‘soft skills’ is often required for nurturing new contact and developing a life-long friendship. While these intangible skills are taught and studied, their practice underpins the success of our most revered business, political, and humanitarian leaders in recent history. How does one quantify trust, communication, and emotional intelligence?The interdependence of our global economy places a premium on authenticity and relationships.

Every day people are empowered with unfiltered information and global communication access from a device that fits comfortably in our pocket. It took the Internet 12 years to gather its first billion users, and a third of that time to reach three billion. By 2025, digital computing and communication technology will connect eight billion people to one online community. Never before in history have consumers had so much influence and power at their fingertips; businesses large and small must learn how to adapt and embrace such change. Kodak and Blockbuster exemplify how quickly the average lifespan of a company listed in the S&P 500 significantly decreased from 67 years in the 1920’s to 15 years today.

Social media is a transformational platform for cultivating trust, increasing engagement, and expanding reach across both demographic and geographic boundaries. Social media is not about selling, it’s about developing connections and communicating effectively. Great content drives engagement and marketing.