PERSONAL BRANDING
Personal branding is the process whereby people and their careers are marked as brands (Lair, Sullivan & Cheney 2005). It has been noted that while previous self-help management techniques were about self-improvement, the personal branding concept suggests instead that success comes from self-packaging (Lair, Sullivan & Cheney 2005). Further defined as the creation of an asset that pertains to a particular person or individual; this includes but is not limited to the body, clothing, appearance and knowledge contained within, leading to an indelible impression that is uniquely distinguishable. The term is thought to have been first used and discussed in an 1997 article by Tom Peters.
Personal branding often involves the application of one's name to various products. For example, celebrity real-estate mogul Donald Trump uses his last name extensively on his buildings and on the products he endorses (e.g., Trump Steaks).
HISTORY
Personal branding, self-branding, self-positioning and all individual branding by whatever name, was first introduced in the 1980 book: "Positioning: The Battle for your Mind", by Al Ries and Jack Trout (Ries & Trout 1981). More specifically in "Chapter 23. Positioning Yourself and Your Career - You can benefit by using positioning strategy to advance your own career. Key principle: Don’t try to do everything yourself. Find a horse to ride".
ONLINE IDENTITY MANAGEMENT
Online identity management (OIM) also known as online image management or online personal branding or personal reputation management (PRM) is a set of methods for generating a distinguished Web presence of a person on the Internet. That presence could be reflected in any kind of content that refers to the person, including news, participation in blogs and forums, personal web sites (Marcus, Machilek & Schütz 2006), social media presence, pictures, video, etc.
Online identity management also refers to identity exposure and identity disclosure, and has particularly developed in the management on online identity in social network services (Tufekci 2008) or online dating services (Siibak 2007).
One aspect of the online identity management process has to do with improving the quantity and quality of traffic to sites that have content related to a person. In that aspect, OIM is a part of another discipline called search engine optimization with the difference that the only keyword is the person's name, and the optimization object is not necessary a single web site; it can consider a set of completely different sites that contain positive online references. The objective in this case is to get high rankings for as many sites as possible when someone search for a person's name. If the search engine used is Google, this action is called "to google someone"[1].
Another aspect has to do with impression management, i.e. "the process through which people try to control the impressions other people form of them". One of the objective is in particular to increase the online reputation of the person.
Online identity management often involves participation in social media sites like Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, Twitxr, Last.fm, Myspace, Orkut and other online communities and community websites, and is related to blogging, blog social networks like MyBlogLog and blog search engines like Technorati.
But it can also consist in more questionable practices. Hense in the case of social network services users have the possibility to buy 'friends' so to increase their visibility.
SOCIAL NETWORKING - perhaps you've heard of it before, but are not quite sure what it means.
Social networking is the grouping of individuals into specific groups, like small rural communities or a neighborhood subdivision, if you will. Although social networking is possible in person, especially in the workplace, universities, and high schools, it is most popular online. This is because unlike most high schools, colleges, or workplaces, the internet is filled with millions of individuals who are looking to meet other people, to gather and share first-hand information and experiences about any number of topics. . . from golfing, gardening, developing friendships and professional alliances.
When it comes to online social networking, websites are commonly used. These websites are known as social sites. Social networking websites function like an online community of internet users. Depending on the website in question, many of these online community members share common interests in hobbies, religion, or politics. Once you are granted access to a social networking website you can begin to socialize. This socialization may include reading the profile pages of other members and possibly even contacting them. You can organize and combine all of your online profiles into one at http://www.whzzz.com/.
The friends that you can make are just one of the many benefits to social networking online. Another one of those benefits includes diversity because the internet gives individuals from all around the world access to social networking sites. This means that although you are in the United States, you could develop an online friendship with someone in Denmark. Not only will you make new friends, but you just might learn a thing or two about new cultures or new languages and learning is always a good thing.
As mentioned, social networking often involves grouping specific individuals or organizations together. While there are a number of social networking websites that focus on particular interests, there are others that do not. The websites without a main focus are often referred to as "traditional" social networking websites and usually have open memberships. This means that anyone can become a member, no matter what their hobbies, beliefs, or views are. However, once you are inside this online community, you can begin to create your own network of friends and eliminate members that do not share common interests or goals.
As I'm sure you're aware, there are dangers associated with social networking including data theft and viruses, which are on the rise. The most prevalent danger though often involves online predators or individuals who claim to be someone that they are not. Although danger does exist with networking online, it also exists with networking out in the real world, too. Just like you're advised when meeting strangers at clubs and bars, school, or work -- you are also advised to proceed with caution online. By being aware of your cyber-surroundings and who you are talking to, you should be able to safely enjoy social networking online. It will take many phone conversations to get to know someone, but you really won't be able to make a clear judgement until you can meet each other in person. Just use common sense and listen to your inner voice; it will tell you when something doesn't feel right about the online conversations taking place.
Once you are well informed and comfortable with your findings, you can begin your search from hundreds of networking communities to join. This can easily be done by performing a standard internet search. Your search will likely return a number of results, including MySpace, FriendWise, FriendFinder, Yahoo! 360, Facebook, Orkut, and Classmates.
SOCIAL MEDIA VS SOCIAL NETWORKING
Lon S. Cohen attempts to provide an explanation in a recent post on the cohcom blog:
Social Media can be called a strategy and an outlet for broadcasting, while Social Networking is a tool and a utility for connecting with others.
The difference is not just semantics but in the features and functions put into these websites by their creators which dictates the way they are to be used. There’s also a kind of, which came first, the chicken or the egg kind of argument to be made here. I suspect that Social Networking came first which evolved into Social Media."
Lon further distinguishes which sites/tools fall into which category. LinkedIn? He calls that social networking. YouTube? It's social media. And what about Twitter and Facebook?
Twitter and Facebook are Web 2.0 sites with the whole package. They straddle the Social Media and Social Networking divide perfectly."
Social Media are tools for sharing and discussing information. Social Networking is the use of communities of interest to connect to others. You can use Social Media to facilitate Social Networking. Or, your can network by leveraging Social Media.
CREATE YOUR PROFILE
Once you have made the decision to join a particular social networking website, you will need to need to register with the site. Even free networking communities require basic registration. Once you are registered, you should be able to start communicating with other community members. Before you start communicating, you may need to develop your online profile or profile page, depending on the networking site in question. Although it may seem easy enough to create a profile, there are many internet users who are unsure exactly what they should and should not include.
Perhaps, one of the most important things to include in your online website is your picture. While a personal picture is optional, it is ideal. Many internet users enjoy talking to someone that they can see in their minds, without a picture this is really difficult. If you are looking to use social networking websites just to meet new friends you may not necessarily need to post a private picture, but it is definitely preferred if you are looking for love. When it comes to internet dating, many individuals will not even view your profile if a picture is not included.
In addition to your photograph, you may want to include your name, but you are strongly advised against giving your full name, especially if your profile or profile page contains a personal photograph of you. In addition to your name, you may want to put down the location of a city you've always wanted to visit versus where you actually live. As with your name it is important to be mindful of "where you are," because posting your picture, address, and full name could be very dangerous, especially if it falls into the wrong hands.
Since anyone, literally anyone, can see your social networking profile, stop and think about the information you are giving out. Essentially, this means that instead of focusing on what you should put in your online profile, you should be focusing on what to exclude. As much as you would like to thoroughly complete your social networking profile with a lot of personal information, you are advised to think about your safety before anything else.
In lieu of your entire personal history, just include your hobbies, political, religious or environmental viewpoints; your likes, and your dislikes. With many social networking websites, including MySpace, you will find that there are preset profile fields for this information. In addition to preset questions or categories on your inclinations, you may also find additional information, including fun questionnaires.
Many social networking websites will ask that you describe your favorite color, your goals in life, your most embarrassing moment, and so forth. As with your other personal information, it is important to stay as vague as possible and not use any full names, especially real ones. Being vague is not being dishonest - it means you're being smart and careful until you know the time is right.
By keeping the above-mentioned points in mind, you should not only be able to create an online social networking profile that is filled with valuable information, but you can do so while staying safe at the same time.
Your safety on the internet is in your hands!
Branding yourself can be a tough proposition, especially if you’ve been downsized and feel like the world has changed and you haven’t changed with it. What follows is my best advice for branding yourself that I offered to one of my friends recently.
0) Before you get started, you need to think about what you want to do and be known for. What would be a great “end” for your brand? What “brand” do you want to sell? This is your VISION for your future.
1) Buy your name.com and set up your website/blog there. This will be your new “home” and you will want to move everything in your life there. If you have a brand name, and your brand name is not already taken, then grab that too. Go to http://syskay.com to register your domain name and 500MB of webhosting for just N2, 500 per year
N2, 500 for a year is a sound investment that will pay dividends down the road. Point them both to the same spot for now. You can export your existing content from your current WordPress.com blog( If you already have-its free) to your new one.
The only pages you’ll need to set up to get started on your blog are: Blog (these are where you’ll write articles and will be the thing that updates), About (your bio/resume), Services (things you can offer others, with testimonials if you have them handy) and a Contact page (put your e-mail, a phone number (nobody calls, but if you’re worried about only listing your home number, then sign up at http://google.com/voice and forward that to your phone number and post that number).
Set up an e-mail account that is your first name at your domain .com and forward it to your Gmail account. Then add that e-mail address to send as from your Gmail account.
Alltop.com and Technorati.com: I figure out which blogs you should be subscribing to, use Alltop.com and find your category. Then, subscribe to every blog in that category and if you’re finding that some of the blogs aren’t as useful at a later date, unsubscribe. Technorati lists the top blogs in various categories and you can search for categories as well. Aside from these two sites, I recommend that you subscribe to Mashable.com, TechCrunch.com and ReadWriteWeb.com to gain insight into the technology and social media landscape.
Tweetbeep: Twitter is a great place to find out what people are saying about you or certain keywords right now. The best way to keep track of it, without using a third party application or logging into Twitter on your web browser of choice, is to use a site called Tweetbeep.com. It has hourly updates, so even if you’re using search.twitter.com for real-time Twitter search, you won’t be missing other tweets. You can even keep track of who’s tweeting your website or blog.
Backtype.com: This is a great tool for seeing conversations around a topic or a blog post. It’s also a site that allows you to subscibe to mentions of a brand or topic in blog comments. Most of the time, people are unaware of what people are saying in blog comments if they haven’t subscribed to the comments or seen the post. This site solves that and drives that information into your Google reader.
Boardtracker.com: This tool will monitor discussion forums where your brand name is cited or topics that are relevant to your industry. Sometimes blog posts get copied into discussion threads too.
2) Figure out your top 5 topics/themes/services that you have expertise in and passion about. Make sure you can write about them and comment on other blogs who write on these topics. Try to think like a search engine. Make them keyword rich words. Work on writing an article a day, 1 per topic/theme/service and what your opinions are on your new home. Read my article on how to become an expert and my article on how to write a blog article for tips/tricks.
3) Use http://hootsuite.com for your Twitter account, and set up a search column for each of these keywords. You may want to include a column for your location too for folks who mention your city or a few cities nearby. You can also manage your twitter, facebook, linkedin and ping.fm account from here. It makes you more productive.
4) Set up alerts on http://google.com/alerts for your keywords, your name and your location. Subscribe to these via RSS at http://google.com/reader and monitor these words/terms. Click in and glance over these articles daily. Read why I love Google Reader
5) Subscribe to 10-20 blogs in your niche via RSS at http://google.com/reader Start following other people who use Google Reader in your niche. Star, share and add notes to the best of what you find. If you want to add me, go to http://philgerb.com and add that as an RSS feed.
6) Go to http://linkedin.com and upload your resume and fill out your profile to get to 100%. Get a custom URL and other things to fill out your profile. Read my best LinkedIn tips. Add me as a contact if you like at http://www.linkedin.com/in/adamajadama (just make sure you tell me how you know me).
7) Get testimonials from folks you’ve worked with on your LinkedIn profile. Then copy and paste them to your website, and add a link to your LinkedIn profile and your Twitter account to your website.
Set up a monthly newsletter at http://mailchimp.com (they have a free option) and add this to your website (you can do this by adding a text widget to your WordPress blog and adding the HTML code MailChimp creates).
9) Create your 90 second commercial. Start with “This is your name” and work from there. Use your key words, create a video, and share this with everyone you know. This is your “elevator pitch” and will refine itself as years go by. Write it out, practice it, make it your short bio on your website, and keep going.
10) Add yourself to every Twitter directory you can find, focusing on your key words. http://twellow.com and http://mrtweet.com are two of my favorites.
11) Follow as many people as you can in your niche and/or that use your key words. Engage them in real conversation. Ask questions and connect!
12) Write a traditional press release and try every possible way you can think of to launch your new “company” without being spammy. Write up the case study of your findings. Make sure you have enough articles up to show that you are for real. Include lessons learned, step by step instructions, etc. so others can learn from you. Telling people how weeds out those people who just want free help and those who say “Wow, this is too much work. I need to hire someone.”
13) Find some local companies and companies in your niche to spotlight on your site. Write about their efforts in your area, and how you would improve them, using what you’ve learned from your own company. Do case studies, and show that you know what you’re talking about.
14) Tweet on topic for at least 30 minutes a day. Check out my presentation on my 30 minute Twitter solution and the 30 minute Twitter solution instructions. Substitute Hootsuite instead of TweetDeck if you wish.
If you’re looking to brand yourself and get a great job, check out my article on how to use Twitter for the job search.
15) Dive into your LinkedIn network and build it as much as you can to find people in the companies and locations you need. Have a cup of coffee with them, and recognize that nearly 80% of jobs are now filled by employee referrals. The more specific you can get when talking to folks on the inside, the more they can help you.
16) Keep writing, keep tweeting, keep connecting and you will get what you want.
Get started TODAY! You don’t have to do everything I said. Dip in and try something today. Get building your brand today before you need to. The sooner you do so, the better off you’ll be, and the less work you’ll need to do down the road.
GRAB A GRAVATAR
How to Create a Gravatar account and create your Identity Online
What is a gravatar?
A gravatar, or globally recognized avatar, is quite simply an 80×80 pixel avatar image that follows you from weblog to weblog appearing beside your name when you comment on gravatar enabled sites. Avatars help identify your posts on web forums and allows you to create your Identity online.
How Do I create a Gravatar?
Signing up for a Gravatar is simple and above all FREE. All you need is to associate a picture with your Email address. This would be the email address you enter while commenting. It is important that this email account is legit. My suggestion, associate your Blog’s email account with your Gravatar account.
Step # 1: Sign up for your Gravatar account
You can signup at www.site.gravatar.com/signup
All you need is your email address! You will then receive a confirmation email including a link that will activate your Gravatar account and allow you to set your password.
Step # 2: Set up a password.
Once you sign up, you will get a confirmation email. Click on that link. You will then be taken to a page where you will be asked to type in your password. Set your password.
Step # 3: Upload a picture, set up your Gravatar
You are now told you have no gravatar. Click on Add a new one. You can choose and upload this image from your computers hard drive or from the internet somewhere. It can be anything and remember you are associated with your unique email address so you do not need to worry about uploading a duplicate picture.
Step # 4: Crop your picture and set up a rating for your picture.
Yes, you get to set a rating for the picture you just uploaded as G, PG, R or X rated. X rated means you uploaded a private picture of your very private parts or something explicit. I would suggest not to do so as many blogs would block a gravator to show only G or PG Gravatars.
Step # 5: Associate your Gravatar with your Email address
This is the last step. Once done you are all set. Whenever you comment on a blog post from now on with your email address, your Gravatar would show up next to your comment. You can still post an anonymous comment, but what’s the fun in that !
Congratulations. You just created your Identity online.
CREATE A FEEDBURNER.COM ACCOUNT
Feedburner.com gives you option to customize the feed for your blog, and you can give visitors to subscribe via email and also track visitors and how many people had subscribed to your feed. It also give lot of customization options. Here I will explain how you can use feedburner for providing email subscription option to your blog.
Please follow the steps to create the feedburner account.
Go to http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/home
Click on Register link at the top near right side
This will open Google's login page. If you have Google id then login with that other wise click on the Create Account link bellow.
Once you login with Google Account, you will be redirected to FeedBurner's home page
Finally you have created Feed Burner account.
GOOGLE PROFILE
Web 2.0 is more than just a buzz word anymore and to be successful in the world of Web 2.0 you'll need your own Google profile. Creating a Google profile is easy, the more information you add when you create your Google profile, the more willing the person reading your Google profile will be to connect with you. Your Google profile is one more tool you have to network and connect online.
Google Profiles will allow you to include all your important links. If you have a personal website, blogs that you write, social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter, you can include all of them in your Google profile. Including links to your other sites on your Google profile will be good for the other sites because it'll give them a search engine boost.
Before You Get Started
Photo - Make sure you have a good photo. The key to a good profile is a good photo of yourself so people know who they're reading about when they get to your profile.
Keywords - What do you like to do and who are you? Those are your keywords. Are you a doctor? That will be one of your keywords.
Links - As I mentioned above, link to your blogs, Facebook profile, Twitter page, websites and whatever else you have.
Service you Offer - Do you have a home based or personal business? If you offer some sort of product or service, your Google profile is a good place to advertise it.
Profile URL - You can choose your own URL for your Google profile. Choose carefully one that suits you. This will be what people see at the top of your browser bar, but also what they see in search engines.
Bio - Make your bio interesting. Something fun will go further than something boring.
Create a Google Profile Step by Step
Go to Google.com type 'Create my Google profile'.
If you already have a Google username, sign in. If not, you'll need to create one before you can go any further.
Enter information like your name, where you grew up, where you live, where you work, where you went to school.
Add a photo of yourself. Everyone wants to see a photo when they're reading a profile.
Create a short bio about yourself, Make it fun and whitty, yet professional. Remember, potential employers may look at this profile. Use bullet points to make important points about yourself stand out. Use bold titles to separate separate parts of your bio.
To the right of the bio is something fun. If there's something you can't find on Google, list it here. Then mention what your superpower is. Then tell people what your interests are.
Add links to any of your personal Web pages, blogs or social networking sites. This way everyone can click through and see what you're all about.
Click on "Create a Google profile".
Copy your Google profile's URL and add a link to it from your websites so people can come and read all about you.
GOOGLE READER
If you like keeping track of websites which are constantly changing their information (such as blogs and news sites), you might be interested in being notified when the site updates its content.
Usually publishers of dynamic websites will allow you to “subscribe” to updates in one of two ways. One is via email updates, the other via RSS (colloquially called “Really Simple Syndication”).
If you’re like me, my inbox is littered with spam and is a hive of activity, so I’m loathe to subscribe to even more email, and there’s always the risk of landing on a spammers data base.
Which is why I like the RSS option. Anytime my favourite blogs or websites update I can view the updates at a convenient time in my RSS feed reader.
There are numerous feed readers available for use, and I don’t intend to cover the options here. I use Google Reader and have been really happy with it. It also appears to be the most popular.
What I like about Google Reader is:
It’s web based (so you can access it from different computers)
You can set up different folders
You can star items for later use or to revisit
You can view items in list view (so you can see just the titles and read what seems important or interesting first
you can view old items
the search facility is great
It’s simple to add a new subscription
Google Reader is pretty easy to set up. I’ve outlined the steps below, with the assumption that the reader does not already have a Google account.
Navigate to Google home page. At the top left of the screen you will see some options. Click on the “more” button and select “Reader”.
Look for the sign in box and click on the “create an account now”
This is NOT creating a gmail account. You can use any existing email account, and this will also allow you to access a range of other Google services.
The next screen tells you that Google has sent you an email with a verification link. Look for that email and click on the link. You will be taken to a new screen which says your email address has been verified. Click on the link to manage your account profile.
Look for the section on the right that says “My Services”. Reader should be listed there. Click on the link.
Congratulations! You have now signed up for Google Reader. Next - How to Add New Feeds to Google Reader. You do this by adding Blogs You are Following at your www.blogger.com dashboard. Keep adding as many blogs as are authorities in your niche. There is a Google reader link below your the "blogs you follow" . click on it and it will take you to your Google reader where you can now read the Blogs you are Following" in full. Doing all these are very easy. If you are finding difficulties in settting them up. Always go back and question www.google.com for direction.
If you follow the instructions above, i'm sure your personal brand will become visible online. Thank you for the efforts to read this blog!
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