Branding, Self-Promotion and Social Media

Branding4People: craft your brand, spread your value, and win customers ERIC WEAVER #pr4p Brand Dialogue PHOTO: FLICKR @JOE NANGLE

First, a bit about branding.

A brand is a PROMISE  The experience someone will always have  The benefit they’ll always receive  The unique difference that will always be there  A brand is strongest through clear messaging and consistent delivery, crafted for the people who will care, in a way that benefits THEM.

YOU are a brand A promise to friends. To future employers. To society.

Trust is a basic requirement for brands and business  How do I minimize trust killers?  Be found or referred, rather than interrupting one’s search.  Demonstrate value, don’t just blather on about it.  How do I build trust with prospective customers?  Demonstrate intellectual capital: you know your stuff.  Demonstrate a vision for this profession or this market.  Show that others took a chance on you and benefitted.  Show that you’re ethical, easy to work with…trustworthy.  How do you empower others to spread their trust in your offering?  Give customers a voice.  Amplify their words about you.  Make sharing your value effortless.

IDENTITY Step 1: identify your unique “business-applicable” traits  The most fascinating or remarkable  The traits that make you authentic  Think about your quirks, through a positive lens  Perfectionist = detail-focused  Scattered = multi-tasker  Aggressive = gets things done  Stubborn = determined  Honesty is always the best policy  Overshare? Not always.

DIRECTION Step 2: determine your goals and audience  What’s your vision for your career in 2014?  What do you want to be known for?  What kinds of people do you want to attract?  Green office specialist: office admins, Ops VPs  Art director: marketing directors, creative directors  Digital PR wunderkind: agency heads, marketing teams  Where do those people “live” online?

MESSAGING Step 3: determine what you’d say  …at a cocktail party, job fair or in an interview  Trustworthy? Hard-working? Funny? Flexible? Nice?  All about facts? All about ideas? All about details?  Leave the detail for later: what’s the one takeaway you’d want to leave behind in an elevator ride (besides “I’m available?”)  That single takeaway should be integrated in every place you engage with people “I am personable and people trust me.” “I accomplish what I go after.” “I have an upbeat passion about this space that is infectious.”

APPROACH Step 4: determine how to engage  What do people have time for? Respect time starvation. TMI is not a selling point.  Which media would best convey what you’re about?

Extending your personal brand via social tools

Consider traditional job-hunting  SEARCH AND ATTACK!  Spray-and-pray resume blasts  Goal: getting a recruiter’s attention  Realities They get hundreds of resumes, sometimes per day Recruiters not incented to look at every resume Job boards often incented to keep filled positions posted Recruiters turning to Google and contacts

The new jobhunt  …is about being found more than busting your way in.  The bigger intellectual footprint you have online, the higher the likelihood of being found by the right people.  Be trusted and be recommended, rather than an intruder on a mission.  In the interviewing process, your footprint is confirmation of trust (or distrust). It seals the deal!  My last three jobs came from Google, a conference, and a blog post!

SUGGESTIONS: bare minimum  LinkedIn  Use your Summary well  Write everything based on brand traits and messages  IMPORTANT: Ask for testimonials  Personal blog  Long-form thought about your profession, even if new  Written from a “hire me!” perspective  Facebook  Personal connections are The Money  Keep things mainly professional but show human side

SUGGESTIONS: mo betta  Twitter  Short-form thought  Carve out time to convey valuable news, events, insights  Slideshare.net  Share your thought leadership with downloadable presentations that convey you and your vision  Trottr.com  Voice blogging: let people hear you!  Be clear, concise, short and sweet

SUGGESTIONS: extra mile  Tumblr/Vox/etc.: repost for SEO  BlogTalkRadio: short, tagged, topical interviews  YouTube: video conveys quickly  Use some decent camera skills and audio  Flickr: post your creative work  Delicious: helpful bookmarks, not just everything

Rules of Engagement  Be honest above all! Lies will be outed, publicly.  Be transparent – offer proof, everywhere  Be real and relatable  No need for extra formality  Extra informality can torpedo you – worth the risk?  Fluff, glitz and perfection are not required  But CLARITY, BREVITY and AUDIBILITY are!  THINK ENGAGEMENT AND DIALOGUE  The more dialogue, the more likely you will be found

Spray and Pray approach dressed up as “social media.” This isn’t discussion, this is monologue. Note the # of comments… DON’T BE THIS PERSON.

But I don’t have time  Make time. When jobs are scarce, your approach will need to change.  Why not have a leg up on all the other (even more qualified) prospects?  Spray-and-pray is DEAD. You know it. So open your mind to you as a valuable free-agent specialist, rather than a peg for a hole.

Consider your lens. Boomers/Tweeners Gen X/Millenials  Trained in formalities  Formalities ignored  More interested in finding those  Don’t offend anyone with like minds than worrying about  Be the most acceptable to the largest turning off others number of people  Less privacy means more ability to  Privacy highly valued be found  Digital natives – tech is ubiquitous  Interested in tech functionality but often and easy overwhelmed by speed of change  Have grown up with “random”  Don’t do well with chaos behavior  GEN X should consider importance  BOOMERS should consider importance of AFFINITY when of PROPRIETY when communicating communicating with Gens X, Y with Boomers

THANK YOU. slideshare.net/weave twitter.com/weave branddialogue.com

Branding, Self-Promotion and Social Media

by Eric Weaver on Jul 01, 2009

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Branding, Self-Promotion and Social Media — Presentation Transcript

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