What is a professional online identity and why is it important?

by Matt Strutte 8th of February, 2022

A professional identity is a way to showcase your; skills, expertise, beliefs, values and experiences. When considering the different and often disparate ways we share who we are online, it’s important to have a single place where people can highlight their professional identity and share who they are, what they do and what they care about with others.

Blinq is the world’s top-rated digital business card provider, providing individuals and businesses with ways to share their professional identity with anyone, wherever they go. But what is a professional identity and why is it important?

The most common question business owners ask us is “can I download my card’s QR code?” The good news is, yes, you absolutely can download your unique QR and add it wherever you like. We’ve seen users add their QR codes to billboards, brochures, their websites and more. It’s a great way to help grow your network and make sure contacts have your most up to date information.

While the pandemic has served as a catalyst for widespread adoption of QR codes their usage has been growing since Apple and Google decided to build them into their products. We’re really happy more people know how to scan and use this great technology for themselves.

The benefits of SaaS

The growth of SaaS adoption has been accelerated by the pandemic, but this was a trend we were seeing beforehand as well. Importantly the number of organisations using at least one SaaS product continues to expand and as these products continue to innovate, their pull for businesses will also continue to grow.

Aside from the benefits of recurring revenue we see the biggest benefit of being a SaaS business in our abilities to be flexible to customer needs and to provide regular updates to our product, providing features that add value for our users. Speaking to customers and adding their suggested features to our roadmap is a really exciting feeling.

Do your research, start with your friends and family. Share the product with them, get their honest feedback, would they use it? What do they like/not like about it? And would they be prepared to pay for it? From this you’ll get a decent idea of where your potential product-market fit could be (or not be as might be the case!)

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Looking forward to 2022

When it comes to networking, important face to face meetings, conferences and networking events are back on the agenda. However, now more than ever brokers need contactless ways to share their professional identity.

At the same time when brokers can’t attend meetings and events in person, they will still be able to share their card using Blinq virtual backgrounds for video conferencing programs like Zoom and MS Teams.

As a team, we paid close attention to the trends at CES2022 and saw a couple of things emerge. I’m expecting to see more successful businesses emerge in the EV and autonomous automotive sector, the remote and personal healthcare industry and the continued growth of auxiliary businesses supporting greater business sustainability efforts.

Networking tips for 2022

Turn up!

It’s been so long since we’ve had the opportunity for face-to-face networking and we need to embrace every opportunity to get back out there.

Be Tactical.

During breaks at events, don’t succumb to the temptation to bow your head and check your phone. Turn to the person next to you and ask them what they’re doing for lunch or if they’d like to grab a coffee.

These moments are the perfect time to strike up a conversation and if you provoke them, more than likely the other person will follow your lead (plus they know there’s a time limit on how long you can both talk for!).