You, the online brand

about me: RefreshMiami, October 2008 Alex de Carvalho alexdc.org / @alexdc

now let’s talk about you ...

... and what you can do to get on track.

Tom Peters said over 10 yrs ago: “We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.” http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/10/brandyou.html From Issue 10 | August 1997

there are lots of books on the importance of branding yourself professionally ...

... but very few books (yet) on how to brand yourself professionally on the web

Gary Vaynerchuk on branding (view minute 7:58 to 9:00) http://en.oreilly.com/webexny2008/public/schedule/detail/4814

your social proﬁles online and the content you publish will bring you new connections and opportunities

so here’s the deal: 1. deﬁne who you are 2. go where people are 3. publish your content 4. connect to the right people 5. display your activity

so, what deﬁnes you?

memorize this set of words ocean moon face desk lights

count to ﬁve

now, name a laundry detergent

network of associations moon Gain ocean Tide All wave Fab Source: Drew Westen, Ph.D., “The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation” http://books.google.com/books?id=5XQjEvoRti4C&pg=PA84&lpg=PA84&dq=ocean+moon+network+of +association&source=web&ots=pPGcX3HX1a&sig=6nGRnawf8g4Hob- HqfvB7X6cp6g&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA85,M1

work on your own network of associations content people content You people content people

this is how people ﬁnd you online podcasts blog posts blogs social video socnets proﬁles avatars photos You communities tags virtual lifestream worlds comments presence

so these are your next steps: • deﬁne your interests • write your bio • get a domain name • start a blog • participate in relevant social networks • link to your own and to others’ content

so what are you, like, 1,000? 2,000?* *Ze Frank speaking at TED, referring to your Google results. See minute 5 of his presentation: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ze_frank_s_nerdcore_comedy.html

yes, there are pitfalls and excuses ... • my name, [John Smith], is not unique enough, I won’t stand out! • there are thousands of [insert profession] ... I won’t stand out! • everyone is blogging, I won’t stand out! • I don’t have the time ...

but it’s not so hard to cut through the clutter

publish your content with the following in mind • deﬁne who you want to meet • deﬁne who you want to meet you • make connecting as frictionless as possible For more great tips, see: http://bettercloser.com/2008/08/27/personal-branding-build-your-personal-brand-in-5-days/

content really is king • write a list of articles of some 40 topics • limit articles to 300 words or less • link to your favorite blogs • post 10 articles to your blog at a frequency you determine • have the next 10 ready to post at the same frequency • work on the next 20 and always keep drafts in your pipeline For more great tips, see: http://bettercloser.com/2008/08/27/personal-branding-build-your-personal-brand-in-5-days/

writing for the web • the most important thing: listen ﬁrst • say LESS • front-load: use the inverted pyramid • put more important content ﬁrst • use clear headlines and headings • be factual, not cryptic • establish trust • use active voice • pay attention to netiquette, culture, tone of voice

now, go where people are Think of it this way. If you are a fisherman you would not fish for the trophy catch in stagnated water. You would need to go to where there is fresh water. That's where the fish are. http://infoworthsharing.com/blog2/2008/06/go_where_the_people_are.html

you mean, yet another social network? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites

Think of social networks this way. Robert Scoble: Social Media Starﬁsh http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/dbarefoot/1814873464/

Think of social networks this way. Brian Solis: The Conversation Prism http://www.briansolis.com/2008/08/introducing-conversation-prism.html

social networks sure look like a random mess (and thus a waste of time) ... Graph: GustavoG http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/gustavog/9708628/

“People don’t just connect to each other. They connect through a shared object.” Jyri Engestrom http://www.zengestrom.com/

the same social network as before, showing how people have connected by interests Graph: GustavoG http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/gustavog/4499404/in/set-113313/

“The services that we love to play with allow people to socialize around objects” Flickr YouTube Del.icio.us “Think about objects as the reason why people get in touch with each other” Jyri Engestrom http://www.zengestrom.com/

LinkedIn is a good place to start connecting your social networks to your other professional identity online, like blogs, slide presentations, etc. http://www.linkedin.com/static?key=application_directory

Seth Godin on social network usefulness for businesses http://www.openforum.com/marketing/video_socialgood.html

a word about your connections: weak links will help you more than strong ones

Mark Granovetter Weak social ties account for most of the structure of social networks in society as well as the transmission of information through these networks. More novel information ﬂows to individuals through weak rather than strong ties. Because our close friends tend to move in the same circles that we do, the information they receive overlaps considerably with what we already know. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weak_tie

nota that these are your online objectives • Presence • Credibility • Identity • Authority • Reputation • Inﬂuence

Loic LeMeur, on using the social map http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra8O0e9iEsc

do track your mentions, online brand monitoring / South Florida startup

monitor your brand(s),

and manage and react to your mentions

http://www.zappos.com/tribal.zhtml

see you online ;) Alex de Carvalho alex@alexdc.org alexdc.org twitter.com/alexdc

http://alexdc.org	63
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http://harvealan.blogspot.com	6
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You, the online brand

by Alex de Carvalho on Oct 30, 2008

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You, the online brand — Presentation Transcript