The tell me economy consists of expressions of your worth and capabilities.  It’s your resume, your static LinkedIn profile, a referral from a friend, your personal elevator speech, etc.  The tell me economy is how we used to promote ourselves. We or someone we know would tell everyone how good we are, how we need to be hired, booked, connected or whatever.  Telling was how we promoted ourselves and one another.

The telling economy is dying and it’s being replaced by the show me economy.

Up until recently, we had to tell people who we were, why we were good and what we knew. It was too cumbersome to show people. There was no WordPress or LinkedIn Pulse or Slideshare, etc.

But now, showcasing you and your work is easy and expected.

Increasingly hiring managers want to see what you’ve done, they want to see proof of what you know. If you’re in sales and you say you use social selling, they want to see it, it’s not good enough to just tell them.

We expect proof today. Anyone can tell you why they’re good, but showing it, that’s a different ball game. We’re less confident in peoples expressions of skills. We want to see it.

If you aren’t showing your work, fewer and fewer people are going to care what you say.

The tell me economy is dead.

Welcome to the SHOW me economy.