Volume 2, Issue 2 is a call to action. Now is the time for building your personal eBrand. Laggards will be lost in a Google cloud of dust, while early adopters will rank #1 for their name. Stop watching everyone else steal your gold (your THUNDER) and get involved today. Many people are scared to develop an online presence, yet it’s the only way you can safeguard your brand and have “job security.” This issue will highlight Gary Vaynerchuk, who will passionately force you to get involved in the GOLD RUSH. As you read each page, you will gather the knowledge needed to not let these opportunities pass you by.
How have you positioned yourself? Have you been building your brand? How are you prepared to take advantage of opportunities in a down economy?
While you listen to the gloom and doom of the mainstream media, naysayers, and general pessimists, remember that only you have control of your career. Just like leaving your financial future in someone else’s hands, doing so with your career is a recipe for disappointment or worse.
Perhaps your position at your company is secure, and you don’t have to worry much. Perhaps it’s anything but secure. Either way, the realities of today dictate that one takes a more proactive approach to staying relevant to your industry, and maintaining visibility in your market.
The great part is that both these things are quite easily accessible to everyone. All you have to do is take the initiative and begin. Sure true training courses by “certified†learning facilities cost real dollars and take up real business hours. However there are other alternatives – search them out on the web. You may already be doing this on a daily basis online or through RSS feeds.
The bigger part, though, is to be making sure to gain visibility in your market. To do that, you’ll need to explore the avenues of “web 2.0†and social media. The tools are plentiful, easy to use, and low to no cost. Most of the ones that give you the most value are going to be the no-cost options, with only your time as an investment.
The time investment is creating and maintaining your presence. It could be one site or network, or it could me many. The more involved you are in sharing information and ideas, the more likely you’ll be to gain both mindshare and authority within your market and industry.
The important thing about working towards this goal, is to make yourself more marketable, more appealing to potential employers and clients. So it’s important that you give examples of your expertise as much as possible. Don’t worry about giving away shared knowledge, every industry has a shared knowledge pool at every level of experience. You need to demonstrate that base knowledge and build upon it. Showing what makes you stand out in the process.
The demand for quality, well-rounded, experienced people never diminishes. The more polished your skills are, and the more people know about them, the more valuable & desirable you become to any organization. And you need to have those qualities visible to the public to take advantage of that next opportunity.
You’re well aware of your reputation, and probably work hard to make sure it’s what you want it to be: a reflection of you and the work you do. Of course by now you’re aware that in this wonderful social media-web 2.0 world, that you are your own brand.
I was talking with a co-worker at lunch yesterday about things to do to get recognized within the company. It’s plain to me, but somehow wasn’t as obvious to my friend. All the work you put into getting noticed within any one organization, to "climb the ladder" as it’s put, can also be focused on building your brand outside the organization and can ultimately be put to better use as a foundation for your brand.
So, you ask, what can you do to start promoting my brand and how is it different than building your reputation? Glad you asked!
Like most things in the online world, it’s both very similar and rather different than what we do offline. Start thinking of yourself as a brand like your favorite cola or automotive company and you’re off to a good start. At the same time, you need to be as diligent and aware of the record you leave behind as you did about your reputation. By working to promote your brand online, you’re going to be leaving behind a permanent record that is easily searchable by anyone.
That can be a double-edged sword of course. If you’re not consistent and follow through, it’ll be remembered, likely written about at some point. It all comes back to word of mouth – the best & hardest type of advertising one can hope for. In the case of personal brand in the 21st century (heh, don’t you just love saying that – so futuristic), it’s a fully indexed and archived word of mouth – and that is the biggest difference. Our memories are now much longer because of the technologies we use.
My biggest tip is to check out resources on the ‘net to start learning more about personal branding and how to go about building a successful one. Starting with Personal Branding Magazine (and it’s fine contributors), and moving on to Googling "personal brand". That’ll get you to the best initial places to start reading up on the topic.
It’s really up to you to make it work. Start filling out some social networks, decide if social tools like Twitter, FriendFeed, Flickr, Brightkite, are for you, start blogging or podcasting. Whatever direction you decide works for you, the key part is to participate and give back as much as you can to the communities that help you build your brand.
Events are fun. Events are just meetups with a bit of structure. As I’ve been hosting social media breakfasts here in Minneapolis & St. Paul, I’ve been thinking a bit about what makes these types of events worth attending, what makes them special.
It’s really the people that attend. Folks from many different industries, genres, interests, and backgrounds make up the mix. The varied group is a sampling of the total social media population that we interact with online. This group is made up of the early adopters of their respective industries. They lead the way and help guide their industries or groups in the use and exploration of these new ideas and technologies.
Events are also great places to network. With such varied participants, people get a chance to meet and greet. They get to talk with people they may want to (or need to!) do business with. It’s a chance for folks to build their network in the offline world and be able to do that most important aspect of networking. Look someone in the eye, get a firm handshake, and really evaluate them in person.
It does matter. Especially for local events where you need to have that network of folks that you’ll work with or look out for. You share your community with them. Your kids grow up in the same environment and what each of you do and how you participate matters to the outcome of it all. It matters.
Another aspect is simply meeting people who do the same things you do. Explore the same spaces you do. You can learn a lot, not just from each other, but from talking about how you do things. It triggers new ways of thinking of things, opens new doors to everyone involved. That induces change, and change is an exciting ingredient in life.
So it’s been a great day here in Minneapolis this Friday. Got a chance to know a few folks from the office better – that’s a good thing. Got to spend a nice evening as a family this evening – that’s a good thing. Made myself write a little bit – and that too is a good thing.
What will be more interesting is if I can continue to write a bit this weekend. That’s my plan, and I think it’ll be worth the time invested to get back to blogging, which I really do enjoy. It’s bothersome that I ever let myself get off track and worried that I wasn’t writing what people wanted to read. Wrong thing to worry about, I know.
What is or was wrong was to allow myself to get sidetracked by too many side-shows on the social web. It’s a great time-sink to explore the latest & greatest. Fun too! However, it really is a delicate balance of habits, and knowing when you’re spending too much time on any one tool, network or site is key to gaining the strengths of those sites and leaving the weaknesses behind.
What’s the answer to it all? Moderation. Just like enjoying a nice adult beverage, it’s only enjoyable in moderation. Also, you get the chance to explore and learn things more in-depth and find how they can augment your life positively rather than simply taking up time just to update statuses and read walls.
So take a break from Facebook, lighten up on your twittering, take a walk and bring only your thoughts with you. You’ll learn a lot more than what folks are doing right that moment if you can let yourself take a breather.
@MAC_Arms Pay taxes when you make your money, pay taxes when you spend your money, pay taxes when you successfully invest your money, pay taxes when you save enough taxed money to afford a house, pay taxes to live in your house, pay taxes when you sell the house that you paid taxes on to
Yup, taxes are criminal and we need serious reforms. I've always said that if you want to see a tax revolt, make withholdings illegal and have Americans write a tax check every payday. They'll revolt for sure. You don't miss what you never had.
Sen. @berniemoreno says voter ID and proof of citizenship are simply common sense.
“We’re talking about a very low threshold — identify who you are and prove you’re a U.S. citizen when you register to vote. I think we’re getting closer to
