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SOCIAL MEDIA FORPERSONAL BRANDING

EFA Ohio10/15/09

Marketing your freelance editorial business – and yourself – via the social Web

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• What is personal branding?

• Why is it important?

• Personal branding 2.0

• A few horror stories

• Unanswerable questions

• Key takeaways

Today’s discussion

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• Tom Peters invented personal branding in a 1997 Fast Company article:

• “Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.”

The brand called You

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• What will differentiate you?

• Think about:– Three things you are good at– Three things you are known for– Three things you are passionate about– Three things other people think you’re

good at

Finding your niche

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An interconnected online footprint of relevant: – Content– Photos– Video– Audio

found by Googling your name

Personal brand 2.0

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• Google results present your personal brand – the good, the bad and the ugly

• You can either accept and manage that or ignore it…

Google is your home page

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But you WILL be Googled!

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“If you don’t brand yourself, Google will brand you.”

~Sherry Beck Paprocki, authorThe Complete Idiot’s Guide to Branding Yourself

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“Everything you do now ends up in your permanent record. The best plan is to

overload Google with a long tail of good stuff and to always act as if you’re on Candid Camera, because you are.”

Seth Godin, master marketer:

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What’s worse than negative search results on Google?

• No results at all

“Not being online today is akin to not existing.” ~Alena Tugend, NYT

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The good news?

• Google wants to help you manage your personal brand

• Google profiles launched this month at http://www.google.com/profiles

• Google profile results have begun to show up at the bottom of U.S. name-query search pages

• Over time, as people begin to fill them out, profiles will become the top result for your name

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Sample Google profile

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More good news!

• Google loves social media– Blogs– Social networks– Any other sites with tons of inbound links

(e.g., traditional media sites)

• Content on social sites rises to the top of Google

• This all happens pretty fast

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Painful case study

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Ouch.

• One night of celebrating and debauchery at an industry awards show…

• …now lives forever as the #2 search result when you Google “Akron ADDY award”

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• Drunken foolish antics live forever online

More painful case studies

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• More positive social media activity

Your prescription?

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Social media strategy• Ensure a consistent, positive

image on:– Blogs– Discussion boards and forums– Social networking sites

(Facebook, Myspace)– Microblogging/lifestreams

(Twitter, Friendfeed)– Photo sharing (Flickr)– Video sharing sites (Youtube,

Viddler)– Social search/sharing &

tagging sites (Delicious, Digg)

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Some ideas• Start a blog

– Serves as a home base for all social media activity– Facilitates two-way conversation– Powerful SEO tool– Showcases your niche and differentiates you from

everyone else– Gives voice to your personal brand– Lends credibility and authority to your job search,

career or hobbies

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Blogging 101• How do I start a blog?

– Free tools like Wordpress or Blogger– Write at least weekly– Represent your personal brand well; be unique but

authentic– Be consistent, clear and concise– Build community

• Comment on other blogs• Share links• Incorporate blog into other social networks

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Social networks

• Facebook• Twitter• LinkedIn• Flickr• Youtube• Delicious• Majelly• Speakersite

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Social networking 101• Maximize your profile• Share meaningful content

– Think 70/20/10• Add relevant contacts/followers• Explore the search function• See what else is there

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Facebook tips• Check your privacy settings

– Open up or lock down all or part of your profile

• Control your Wall content– Turn tagging settings off for both photos and

pictures– You wouldn’t want your friends tagging you

in a picture of you doing something stupid, would you?

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• Create and share useful content• Answer questions, offer advice

– Provide tips and info– Showcase your expertise to gain credibility– Be a good Netizen – respond to broader queries– Add value to get and keep followers

• Be human, memorable and likeable• Follow 70/20/10 rule• Build relationships on and off-line

Contribute to the community

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• Can you manage multiple identities online:– Business– Personal life– Family– Church, hobbies, etc?

• Maybe – but it’s difficult and messy

One identity to rule them all

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• Some companies don’t like employees to have strong personal brands– “The David Armano/Critical Mass situation

definitely shows us the danger of companies investing in personal brands. David has clearly benefited from Critical Mass’ direct investment into his brand, and I’m sure on some level so has Critical Mass. How much we’ll never know. What we do know for sure is that Critical Mass invested a lot and now 2 years later they have a massive hole to fill." (Adam Kmiec, Kmiec Ramblings)

Is there a down side to all this?

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GETTING STARTED

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• Social media monitoring– www.Whostalkin.com for just about everything– www.Socialmention.com for just about everything– www.Summize.com for Twitter

• Check your name availability– http://namechk.com/– www.CheckUserNames.com

• Personal branding resources– http://delicious.com/LaraK/personalbrand

Useful tools

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• Dan Schwebel, Gen Y personal branding expert and author

• How to build a powerful brand to achieve career success– Discover your brand– Create your brand– Communicate your brand– Maintain your brand

• Personalbrandingbook.com

New book: Me 2.0

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Online reputation management• How are you connecting?• How much is too much?• Define role and value of social

media for you personally• Know that what you say online

to one person, one time … you’re saying to everyone, all the time

• Social media can get you hired – but it can also get you fired!

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• Create your Google profile and set up Google alerts for your name

• Start a Twitter account (think: 70/20/10); follow people in the Columbus area and your industry/field

• Build a robust profile on LinkedIn. Answer questions and ask for recommendations to boost your credibility

• Join Facebook or overhaul your existing account to ensure it enhances your personal brand

• Open a Flickr account and upload photos• Create a Delicious page to share links and resources

Key takeaways

QUESTIONS?

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CONNECTLara Kretler@LaraK on TwitterLara.Kretler@Fahlgren.com614-383-1618 or 937-271-9151www.fahlgrenmortine.comwww.larakretler.com