Aug
Personal Branding at its best
Filed Under (Uncategorized) by rossjoyner on 14-08-2010
Tagged Under : Facebook, people, Personal Branding, understanding
Personal Branding
Social Networking
Personal branding when it comes to social media is just plain scary starting with the very young who don’t seem to care about theirpersonal branding, to the professionals who were never trained on how to do personal branding on the internet.
One of my friends told me they wouldn’t use LinkedIn because “they had nothing business related to put into LinkedIn” (This person was very well educated and had 10 years of community service with the city they were in) These can be some very impressive credentials to start with on LinkedIn with your personal branding.
What ever happened to thinking about how those things and just about anything else you would put in your resusme? When building your personal brand, using your head and thinking about the things you can do to improve your brand is key.
Their lack of understanding of personal branding in social media
Most everyone I know has a facebook page, but that’s about where personal branding stops for most people. People tell me LinkedIn profiles are to hard, and a lot of the profiles are only 25% complete and that’s if they even have a profile on linkedIn. That is only two of the social networks. What about all of the rest of them. There are hundreds to choose from.
So why?
Millions of people use Facebook religiously.
Personal Branding needs consideration
Here are some of the reasons people might lack strong, cross-network online personal branding.
Privacy and personal branding
Many people will tell you that they just don’t want that much information on the internet about them.
Well let’s de-bunk that right now. Even if you don’t have a computer and don’t use one, the amount of information available about you is astounding. Why not give them what you want them to see and not what they can find about you.
One of my friends got caught in this recession and had to file for bankruptcy. needless to say, when you googled her name, the first thing that came up was that bankruptcy. She was embarrassed to say the least. Instead of letting that stand as the first thing when anyone googled her name, she went to work and started using about 30 different social networking sites.
What happened next was exciting. All of a sudden one day she check her name and Google had picked up all of those social networks with the information she wanted out there and the bankruptcy was nowhere to be found. Now that’s the way to work with your personal branding in the social networking arena.
It is oblivious to me that most people just don’t give a second thought to the fact that they can leverage the internet to help them privately and professionally, by using personal branding techniques.
Busy schedules. Effective social media engagement takes time. You need to set up profiles, maintain them, build and foster relationships, and read and comment on other people’s content.
No matter what their reasons, people can’t continue ignoring the other social networks. While Facebook has its place, other platforms can be more valuable for your personal brand, allowing you to populate the first page of search results for your name with content you control, and establish yourself as someone who “gets” it to potential employers, who are definitely using social networks.
While a Managing Director or HR person wouldn’t friend you on Facebook, he or she might see your great video content on YouTube. Potential employers might engage with you in a Twitter chat, or may see an answer of yours on LinkedIn or possibly your community service for, say the Red Cross.
Personal Branding is here to stay and we had all learn to use it or we will be left behind.
Hi Ross,
Great post..thanks for sharing.
It's very true that most people don't understand the POWER of Personal Branding. You certainly can use it to your advantage both personally and professionally and is so important if you are trying to build a reputation and credibility on the Internet.
People will come to know you and trust the brand that you have created and you will leave a large footprint on the Internet and have many devoted followers if you make the effort and take the time to BRAND yourself properly.
To your success,
Marc
Marc Thank you so much for taking the time to comment on my blog. I agree whole heartedly with your above comments. Thanks again. . .
Ross I am so with you on this one!
My young niece is going to pay the price one day for the "personal brand" she is currently creating. I have attempted to get through to her but alas I have yet to succeed!
With my social media clients that is one of the first things we figure out because branding is the starting point for it all!
tks
~ Carla
Hi Ross,
Personal Branding is definitely an awesome form of leverage, and works in conjunction with Attraction Marketing, Social Media Marketing and My Story Marketing.
Having Google produce search results in your name is a testimony to your branding, hence fully embracing this will only benefit you in the long-term. If you're afraid to put up info about yourself, do you think people would want to do business with someone who's a recluse? Buyers ACTIVELY search for the thing they want to buy, and if your name is attached to your product, you only stand to gain!
Something to think about.
Yasser
I think that the problem for most is not so much in the failure of understanding why we need to "brand" but rather what Social Media is really about and whether it can even help in our branding quest.
In addition, how we use these social media network remains much of a mystery and one which I am just now beginning to understand, and when I say beginning, I am being generous with myself?
The privacy issue that you are so rightly referring to is one that deeply preoccupies me, as a father of several (yep… several) daughters
. I am constantly on their back making use the younger one do not post things they might regret later on.
Thank you for this information by the way.
Stevie
Hi Ross,
What a great article! I held back from the social aspect of the internet and facebook for a long time because of the "privacy" issue. You bring up a great point about having more control with your content by leveraging the information that is out there. It makes so much sense. The internet has changed so much so fast and I was "recluse" at one time. That certainly changed once I understood the power of branding and how it works in my marketing efforts.
I was fortunate to catch on to personal branding early and it is easy to tell which marketers understand it and are using it. Attaching your name to every interface works! When your email, blog, user name, YouTube, Facebook, Linkedin, etc. is consistent and attached to you, it causes a flow which really attracts people to you. It's less confusing and it allows people to instantly recognize you. It's more comfortable to interact once the recognition is intact.
I'm commenting on my own experience when I began internet marketing. Starting out we all need tools and resources to grow our business. There are a lot of freebies out there, but I found that it is essential to purchase some tools and/or services. I spent my money on the people I was attracted to because of personal branding.
Thanks for your awesome blog!
Hi, Rosse,
I agree whole-heartedly with your post.
Personal branding is the first step to developing the know, like, and trust factors. It's essential to give people and idea of who you are and what you stand for.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Angela
Hi Ross,
Thank you for sharing this excellent info. Most of the older generation(talking from experience) takes it for granted, that we are not anymore in "that" zone. To challenging to learn, … and the "no time for more" report. Well,…..Personal Branding is crucial for everyone's business. We better bite the bullet, and go for the steps, or stay behind and sit on the sideline.
Love your way of simple direction, and hope that many will visit your blog. I am honored to meet you and will follow your blogs.
Those who focus on adding value with each act become valuable.
Successful people go past the point where everyone else stops.
Thank you for sharing,
Irene