The presentation provided eight steps for students to develop their personal brand and networking skills, including determining their unique qualities, creating an online portfolio and professional blog, developing an elevator pitch, evaluating their online presence, using social networks, becoming a networking "rockstar," leveraging their network, and creating a branding plan. Following these steps can help students enhance their career opportunities and professional development.

1. Today’s IABC
Free Web Seminar
Creating & Maintaining Your
Personal Brand: and
Rocking Your Network
Presented by Heather Huhman
7 March 2012
With an 80% discounted IABC student
membership:
• Enhance your knowledge and skills with the
highest quality research, articles and best
practices.
@IABCstudents • Access professional development
resources used by top communicators.
• Add value to your resume, connect with
professionals and gain experience.
• Discover the hidden job market.
Learn more at
students.iabc.com

2. Creating & Maintaining
Your Personal Brand
and Rocking Your Network
Presented by:
Heather R. Huhman

3. Step 1:
Determine Your Differentiation
 What do you bring to the table they can’t?
– Write down every skill, characteristic, and interest
you have – this becomes your “unique you”
 What collateral material will you need to
communicate your unique you?
– Business cards
– Online portfolio
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4. Step 2:
Create an Online Portfolio
 Find out if your personal domain name is for
sale (firstnamelastname.com). If it is,
purchase it!
 Don’t forget to purchase hosting
 I recommend building and designing your
online portfolio using a free content
management system, such as WordPress
– BlueHost.com specializes in hosting WordPress
Web sites
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5. Online Portfolios, Cont.
 WordPress alternatives:
– About.me
– Flavors.me
– Wix.com
– Weebly.com
– Webs.com
– VisualCV
– Carbonmade
– DoYouBuzz (U.S. version)
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6. Online Portfolios, Cont.
 On the homepage, include a welcome
message to visitors – this can be a similar,
more generic version of your cover letter
 Create a page/tab:
– Where visitors can download your résumé in PDF
format (iPaper is a good app for this)
– For your actual portfolio
– Linking to your professional blog
– With your contact information
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7. Online Portfolios, Cont.
 What to include in your online portfolio:
– Case studies (problem, solution, results)
– Class projects
– Volunteer/internship work
– Professional testimonials/recommendations
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8. Online Portfolios, Cont.
http://www.kaitlyndennihy.com
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9. Online Portfolios, Cont.
http://www.mikinziestuart.com
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10. Step 3:
Create a Professional Blog
 Select a topic or niche
 Decide on your posting frequency, and stay
with it
 Admit upfront you are not an expert
 Write interesting content – and write it well
 Follow and comment on other blogs
 Promote your blog
 Don’t be afraid to be wrong
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11. Step 4: Develop Your Core
Message / Elevator Pitch
 Elevator pitch = a short sound bite where you
explain who you are and what you’re seeking
 Typically 30-60 seconds or 150-200 words
 Keep it short & concise in order to hold your
listener’s attention but still get enough
information out to them
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12. Step 4: Develop Your Core
Message / Elevator Pitch
 In general, your elevator pitch should consist
of:
– Your name (if meeting for the first time)
– Current status (student, etc.)
– What you seek (internship, entry-level job)
– Your unique selling points
– Qualifications
– Passions
– Call to action
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13. Step 4: Develop Your Core
Message / Elevator Pitch
 Comes in handy at networking events or
when meeting hiring managers and
recruiters
 Helps you answer the interview question “Tell
me about yourself”
 Share a story
– Mention past accomplishments and goals you’ve
reached (but be concise!)
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14. Step 5: Evaluate Your Current
Online Presence
 If you Google your name, what comes up?
What can you edit? What should be public
information, and what should not?
 Decide what you want those who search for
you to know about you and how much
specific information you want to share
 Knowing what’s already out there will help
you create and maintain a consistent online
brand
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15. Step 6:
Get on Social Networks
 According to recent Reppler/Lab42 research,
91% of hiring managers use social
networking sites to screen job candidates
– Facebook: 76%
– Twitter: 53%
– LinkedIn: 48%
 During which phase of the hiring process?
– After receiving an application: 47%
– After an initial conversation: 27%
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16. Social Networking, Cont.
 Etiquette:
– Listen
– Be relevant
– Mind your brand
– Engage
– Give more than get
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17. Social Networking, Cont.
 Twitter
 LinkedIn
 Facebook
 Niche networks
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18. Step 7: Become a Networking
Rockstar
 Networking is creating a two-way,
mutually beneficial relationship between
yourself and a connection
 70-80% of jobs are filled through networking
– Employee referrals
– Unadvertised openings
– Connections with hiring managers/CEOs
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19. Networking, Cont.
 Attend lots of events
– Make sure people know who you are
• If an organization you are really interested in is
holding an open event, make sure to go
• Make face time, so they know who you are
• While you cannot ask for a job, be sure to tell them
about your future plans
– Don’t just attend events within your industry
• Attend events that interest you
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20. Networking, Cont.
 Find ways to bring up parts of your online
portfolio in face-to-face conversations
– At networking events, think of ways to weave
some of the work you have done into the
conversation
– Kick off the discussion by asking about their job
and what their day to day is like
– At appropriate moments, mention your interests
and accomplishments
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21. Networking, Cont.
 Ping with a purpose
– Pinging refers to communicating in useful ways
with new contacts so you stay fresh in their
minds
• Make sure to follow-up with the people you
connected with in-person by e-mailing them
interesting articles of a common interest, or simply
notifying a hiring manager of any changes in your
résumé or contact information
– Staying top-of-mind is key
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22. Networking, Cont.
 Stay organized
– When you meet someone & get their business
card, take a few notes on the back to remember
important parts of your conversation
– Create social networking lists or Excel/Google
spreadsheets of important contacts to remember
key information (such as title/position, company,
things in common, etc.)
– Resource: Gist.com
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23. Networking, Cont.
 Become a follower
– Seek out recruiters and hiring managers on
Twitter and follow them
• Make sure you contribute to the conversation and
demonstrate your qualifications -- because any
opportunity to converse is an opportunity to impress
– If you constantly pop up on people’s Twitter
feeds, you will continue to stay top-of-mind
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24. Networking, Cont.
 No matter where you meet someone, the
only real way to bring them into your
network is by keeping in contact with them
 After your first meeting, follow-up with them
by:
– Asking him/her out to lunch or coffee
– Sending an e-mail
– Engaging with him/her on social networking
sites
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25. Networking, Cont.
 Leverage your network
 Master the “art of the ask”
– Smart networkers know the strategies for
determining what to ask for, who to ask, and how
to ask for any goal they want to achieve
– Help can come almost immediately if you’ve laid
the groundwork correctly
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26. Networking, Cont.
 Don’t just send an e-mail saying, “Hey, I’d like
to meet to talk about job opportunities at
your company. Are you free tomorrow?”
 Instead, say, “I’m really interested in taking my
paralegal degree into the nonprofit world.
Would you be open to a quick phone call or a
brief meeting sometime to share insights on
how you did it?”
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27. Networking, Cont.
 Take cues from your contacts
– If you ask for a meeting and they’re more
comfortable with a short phone call, take it
 Come prepared with good questions
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28. Step 8:
Create a Plan
 Set goals
 Research your social community
 Select your brand ambassadors
 Manage your reputation
 Establish yourself as a thought leader
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29. Questions?
Heather R. Huhman
Founder & President
Come Recommended
www.comerecommended.com
heather@comerecommended.com
Twitter: @heatherhuhman
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