As geeks we want to learn all of the latest shiny technologies. I find myself sometimes thinking, “Wow I know how to use Ajax, RSS, Dom Scripting, etc and now anyone would want to hire me”. Well, that’s true if the target audience knows what you are talking about and is looking specifically for those skills. But frankly, business people don’t care and they only care if they understand that these technologies add value to their business. And honestly most business owners have no idea what I am talking about unless I put it in terms they can understand.

I put together this list of ways to describe my inner geek to business people.

Geek-to-business translation

• RSS – An orange button people can click on so they know when your website is updated with fresh content.
• Ajax – Faster because the page doesn’t flicker when you click on things.
• SEO – The website is written in a clean way that people searching for your site can find you.
• Link Building – Get more people to link to you that have a similar topic to your site.
• Server Side Coding – You need this to create logins, store customer information and anything that invo.
• CSS – Makes your page look pretty. It speeds up making design changes.
• Blog – You can write your own articles without needing my help.

Presenting your inner geek in a simple, almost child-like way makes people much happier with you. They think better of you and appreciate your work more. You become worth more to employers because they understand you.

If you can communicate your inner geek clearly, your chances of success are much higher. After all, why should they care that you know these things? You have to explain to them that you are excited about using your inner geek to add value to their company.