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.
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