Sep 20, 2007 | blog
There are many good social networks to be a part of, but as I delve deeper into social media and personal branding I’m coming to the conclusion that your blog is becoming more important.
On your blog, you have a direct feed to your readers. Those readers can be friends as much as it can be potential employers or business contacts. Your blog can take on more of your characteristics, from the way you write to the theme that presents the information to your readers.
A blog can interact with other social networks, augmented with whatever tools you choose to bring into your branding strategy. Adding additional communications, video, audio and so on adds more value to your ability to network and share with your community.
The one big thing about viewing your blog as a social network is to remember the social aspect, which infers the interaction in a community. A blog’s comment system is there to enable the conversation, you are there to help drive the conversation. If you’re disabling comments because you don’t like some criticism, you may want to take another look. That feedback could help you grow in ways that aren’t readily apparent.
Also, your blog is your online hub. Use it to send information to other social networks that you frequent. It’s also the one place on the Internet that you can make sure people find out about YOU. You can make sure to let them know how to find you, to find your profiles and networks that you have left profiles, feedback, and articles on throughout the Internet. From your blog people can download a copy of your resume, talk about your latest work, and so on. Don’t forget that you can have an easier to remember URL to get to your blog than your profile on any service or social network.
Overall, the advantages of having a blog that you can interact with others is a statement about you. You took the initiative, you are reaching out, you are placing your ideas in a public forum, you are inviting feedback. Don’t get me wrong; in phrasing it that way it sounds like The Great You Show – but it doesn’t have to be. It’s up to you to be able to show it’s really about conversations.
On your blog, and through your interests and reading habits, you will find other bloggers in the same genre and begin to share links and comments with. This is one of the best ways to grow your network. No, it’s not like getting 250 ‘friends’ on Facebook in a weekend, but that’s because it’s more valuable. Having two or three blogging friends is more valuable and powerful than large numbers elsewhere. Your interaction in the blogosphere with others is what builds that value. It’s more than any number can represent because it’s real exchange of ideas, real interaction. And that my friend is social networking.
So what else am I missing? What else helps make your blog your entry point to social networking?
Aug 27, 2007 | blog
Dan Schawbel has been pursuing his personal brand like few others. He recently has consolidated his online brand to one central source: DanSchawbel.com.
Dan is an advocate for personal branding, using numerous techniques and new ideas to market his skills. If you were curious, Dan is the engine behind Personal Branding Magazine, and works with college students to help prepare them to enter the workforce. He does this with tips, techniques, and ideas in marketing that will help build their brand.
If you are looking for a great personal brand practitioner, check out Dan’s new site where you can find all sorts of information and ideas to use to build your personal brand.
Technorati tags: Personal Brand, Dan Schawbel, Personal Branding Magazine
Aug 23, 2007 | blog
I’ve often wondered why it’s so hard for people (especially tech geeks) to get themselves a site on the web. For many it comes down to time as much as anything, but for several, it’s also about anonymity.
I guess that I shouldn’t be surprised by this, it’s human nature not to expose too much information or place yourself in a position to be noticed. While we all may feel that way to a certain degree, I’ve often wondered why tech people are sometimes the worst at this.
Maybe it’s because they understand the technologies and capabilities inherent in the Internet. Maybe they are scared off by the possibility that there is someone out there smarter than they are, and that they may not be able to adapt quickly enough.
Whatever the reason is, it bothers me that several talented people don’t leverage their skills and promote their brand. There are so many possible things to promote yourself that it’s silly not to. Create a web site for yourself and have information about you, or start a blog about something you’re interested in.
Promoting your personal brand is not hard, and it’s not dangerous. It does require a different mindset than what people are normally used to. When you set out to start promoting your brand, you should be as transparent as possible and only hold back a few pieces of information.
Here are some tips that I strongly recommend for those sitting on the fence wondering if it’s worth the “risk”.
- Get a site on the Internet for people to find you. Whether that’s a blog, a static web page or simply a LinkedIn profile. Have someplace where people can find you.
- If you choose to do a web site, I’d encourage you to go for a blog. You’ll have someplace to do more than just a simple page. And with services like Blogger or WordPress.com, you can do it fast and for free.
- If you’re really serious about your brand – get yourself a domain name and host your own sites at a hosting service. It’s a lot simpler than you think and can cost under $5 a month.
- Participate. Get involved in discussions about things that you’re interested in. Get known around the communities that you have a passion for, things that really are fun for you.
- Make sure to have a page for your biography. Blogs all have a provision for an “About” page. Use it!
- Your resume must be on your site – no doubt about it. I always create a subversion (yes I version all my personal documentation) of my resume sans address, just for on the website. Also, I recommend making a PDF copy for placement on you web – that way nobody can change it easily when downloaded.
- Create an email address (GMail?) just to put on your website. Make it easy for people to contact you.
- Seriously think about putting your phone number on the website. Especially if you are actively involved in social media. (I know some bloggers even make it a challenge to people to call them!)
Yes there is the chance of identity theft out on the Internet, but their really after money. Do you store money on your website? Didn’t think so. Hell, if people want to be me, they can come and do my work for me as well! 
The reality, of course, is that most all the information that someone needs to steal your identity can be found in pay-for databases from a number of firms around the world. The little bit you expose on the Internet just being yourself is negligible in comparison.
Technorati tags: Personal Improvement, Identity Theft, Personal Brand
Aug 17, 2007 | blog
Are you positioning yourself for growth? How much buzz surrounds your personal brand? Wonder what you could do to change that?
Well, one way to start giving people another facet of you is to leverage Social Media. Social Media is made up of many types of tools that can help you not only work to enhance your brand, but also start connecting with people in new ways.
From Wikipedia:
Social media describes the online technologies and practices that people use to share content, opinions, insights, experiences, perspectives, and media themselves.
Social media can be more than the sum of its parts; blogs, wikis, social networks, presence applications, lifecasting and video are just tools and methods to enrich interactions with your connections. While broadcasting your every move (lifecasting) may not seem like a wise move to most of us, it’s one example of gaining exposure for your idea (i.e. justin.tv).
However, social media also includes ideas and things that have become common, even mainstream – take blogging for example. Blogs are becoming ubiquitous in communicating, sharing ideas, reporting, and personal branding. Blogs are really your own social network in their own right (but hey, that’s another post) because they allow you to do so much more.
From your personal blog, you can talk about your own ideas, topics, perspectives, and most importantly – set your own agenda. From your blog, you can launch into podcasting, video posts, host your own OpenID, host a PDF of your resume, and link to all your online resources.
Some of those resources should be a social network. For nearly any professional, a service like LinkedIn is a great place to start. Yes, it’s an online social network, but it is tailored to professionals connecting with professionals in a controlled environment. It’s really an organized, standardized way to host a copy of your resume, allow people to search resumes, gain authority (via recommendations which are like references), post & search jobs, and accept/deny invitations to “connect” with peers as you see fit.
Some more socially adept individuals will point out that LinkedIn is deficient in many interactive social aspects, such as being able to share pictures, status updates, funny icons, favorites lists (movies, music, etc), and the like. The good part is that none of this clouds the primary purpose of LinkedIn: to network with like-minded professionals.
Now for the more adventurous, there is Facebook where many professionals are starting to leverage the advanced features, using them to better understand their contacts and communicate with them around the world in real time.
Another quickly growing tool in social media is a micro-blogging/presence application such as Twitter. The speed with with you can communicate, share information, get updates, news, and the like is incredible. The important thing to remember about Twitter (and similar services) is to not judge it by it’s original purpose. The Twitter question “What are you doing?” was just a launchpad. In 140 characters or less, you can communicate a status, a thought, a question, a frustration, a plea, a thank you… Twitter is just another view of the online community that you build.
I guess the point of this is that online communities, be they blogs, social networks or IM are only as good as the effort you put into them. Just like in offline relationships, the effort to understand, learn and grow is crucial to succeeding and gaining benefit for you – and your network!
Technorati tags: Social Media, Social Networking, LinkedIn
Aug 1, 2007 | blog
Hi all!
I’ve had the pleasure of working on a great new project with a number of really great people over the last month or two. The project is the new Personal Branding Magazine, in which I’ve been a contributing author, and I’d like to alert you to the premier issue which you can find here.
This new magazine brings together a number of great thinkers on the topic of Personal Branding, and is organized by Daniel Schawbel who writes the Personal Branding Blog. Daniel has been able to meld thoughts and articles from all corners of the Personal Branding world, authors like Guy Kawasaki, Chris Brogan, Rob Cuesta, Liz Pabon, Neil Patel, Lyn Chamberlin, Michelle Dumas, David Frazer, Charles Lau, and Scott Bradley.
The magazine will be published electronically on a quarterly basis, and all proceeds go to charity – the American Cancer Society. An Annual subscription is $12.95, and advertising opportunities are available for individuals and organizations (see Personal Branding Magazine site for details).
