branding yourself in social media

Copyright 2010 Tony Gates

Branding Yourself in Social Media



Developing and Reinforcing Your Brand Bringing Value Developing a

LinkedIn/Twitter/Facebook Profile to which People Are Drawn

Questions


Developing and Reinforcing Your Brand

Great opportunity! You can be anything you want to be – be THE expert Once you select…Stay there…Consistency is key Brand should carry over to all aspects of your online

presence (exception) Create your “sound bite” (elevator speech) Use with bios, summaries, blurbs on all platforms CONSISTENCY!!!!!


Bringing Value

Consistent with your brand Stay positive…NEVER any “poor me” posts Quotes – a great “fallback” Search for the

“right” ones NO, NO, NO, NO direct sells Use lay language, content for laypeople

(Facebook and LinkedIn) Jargon expected and respected within your

group


Bringing Value

Like and Unlike Groups Blog, blog, blog, blog Shake babies and kiss hands! If on a career search, advertise? When connecting, always include a note (exception is

Twitter) When accepting, always include a note – “Please let

me know if can do anything for you.” “How may I be of value to you?”

Exception – Twitter… I hate auto-replies!!


Bringing Value

Choose good source material Digg Mashable! The Social Media Guide Alltop News sites Industry sites RSS feeds (Yahoo!, Google, etc) Other news feeds (My6Sense, Fluent News)


Developing Good Profiles

LinkedIn – THE first step for business Twitter – Next step…draw people to

your website and LinkedIn profile Facebook – Show a well-rounded side.

People do business with people they know and like


General Guidelines

Engage with others Reciprocity Stay away from the Big 3 – Religion (unless

you’re clergy and that’s part of your brand), Politics (unless you’re a politician - even then be careful), and Sex (unless you’re a …well…)

Update often Keep private things private


General Guidelines

“Love” your followers Give to get If you ask people to look at a website, blog, or

anything else, give a COMPELLING reason Do not directly push your service or product…Set the

stage, then be there for the solution, have others do it on your page (sincerely)

I-N-T-E-R-A-C-T (There must be a back-and-forth) Pictures of YOU on profiles are MY preference (as

opposed to logos, pets, etc)


LinkedIn

Where it all starts for business My profile as an example Sell you Link to your profile on resumes and signature blocks Memorable url Max out your groups (50) Link to blog, website, Twitter Lots or few followers Recommendations – be careful


Twitter

Reciprocal follow – IF there’s value Learn and use hashtags # Look for: number of follower/followed; # of tweets, RT’s;

signs of interaction (@) Good, brand-reinforcing bio #FollowFriday Draw people to your “stuff” with targeted marketing and

salesmanship, no spam, or auto “thanks for following me” msgs (Love your followers)

Be witty… Link to LinkedIn/Facebook? Pros and Cons


Facebook

The “Final Frontier” Great opportunity to show the real you Pics of family, pets, etc Go easy on the Farmville, etc Stay brand consistent, but remember your audience Post compelling, good-to-know stuff Personal v Business page – I combine If you have a business page, have a personal one

as well


Other Platforms

YouTube Plaxo Google Profile Naymz Beebo Googe Buzz Yada, yada, yada


Summary

Social media is here to stay LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook are the

biggies Proper branding and bringing value brings

people to you Show a personal side Stay away from the Big 3 Love your followers Be consistent



Questions?

branding yourself in social media

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