personal branding

© 2011 THINK FIRST INC

THINK FIRST THINK FIRST THINK FIRST THINK FIRST THINK FIRST THINK FIRSTCONSULTI

NGDELIVERING STRATEGY AND ACTION IN A DIGITAL AGE

BUILDING YOUR PERSONAL BRAND ONLINE

FEBRUARY 2011

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AGENDA

Position yourself

Identify your target audience

Create a consistent brand identity

Embrace social media

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POSITION YOURSELF

Evaluate yourself relative to the market• Points of difference• Competitive advantage• Weaknesses you need to overcome

Identify the 3-4 words that you want to describe you• Nike: authentic athletic performance• Me: Innovative marketer and brand builder• You: ?

These are your keywords• LinkedIn and Google search• Twitter and LinkedIn topics

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IDENTIFY TARGET AUDIENCE

Who do you want to reach?• People who know you and/or your work• People within your industry• Influencers• Hiring managers and recruiting firms

Where are they?• Increasingly they are on social media

−66 MM on LinkedIn, 37MM every month−106 MM on Twitter, 27MM daily−500 MM on Facebook, 41MM daily

• Virtually everyone is on Google

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CREATE BRAND IDENTITY

Know what is out there• Google yourself and set up alerts

Develop a consistent identity across all platforms• Upload professional picture• Same name across all platforms (if possible)• Complete all profiles

If you are consulting, you need an extended brand identity• Name of company• Graphic identity• Website or blog that doubles as a site• Branded presentation template

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EMBRACE SOCIAL MEDIA

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PRIORITIZE AND BUILD OVER TIME

Master one platform and add a second• Start with LinkedIn• Add Twitter

Add a third to cross-promote• Facebook• Stumble upon• Quora• Industry specific niche platform

Recognize that each platform has its own language and etiquette• Require different, but linked strategies

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LINKED IN

Objectives:• Reconnect with people you

know• Expand your network• Remain top of mind with

connections• Be tapped for jobs by

recruiters• Boost your search rating• Provide a business platform

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LINKED IN

Keys to success:• 100% completed profile

−Have some recommendations

• Actively connect with people you know−Use suggestions function−Link after every meeting

• Increase platform visibility−Status updates 2-4X per month−Flag relevant articles−Answer questions

• Optimize for search−Keywords

• Establish company page if consulting

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TWITTER

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TWITTER

Objectives:• Research topics• Extend your network• Establish yourself as an expert• Build relationships • Reach influencers

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GETTING STARTED

Understand your target• Listen before you tweet

−Topics of interest−What gets retweeted (RT)−#Hashtags for keywords−@ replies to questions −Tonality

• Identify key influencers

Build an audience• Follow relevant friends from

email, Facebook• Add yourself to targeted lists

−WeFollow, Twellow, Listorious

• Follow people with similar interests/at key companies

• Make it a rule to follow back• Create lists to segment later• Make hashtags a habit

−#leadership, #strategy, #HR

• Follow trusted lists

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MOVE TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Become a credible source• Write a profile that contains

your keywords• Post your picture• Provide reliable curation on

your area of expertise• Post consistently

−2-10x per day

• Promote yourself−1:15 ratio

• Minimize personal comments, maximize POV

Build relationships• Respond to direct messages

and questions• Thank people who RT, #FF,

and add you to lists• Pick 1X per day to interact • Ask questions• Avoid jargon• Move to DM beyond a few

tweets• Do not send auto reply thank

yous

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MASTERY

Schedule tweets to have greater presence

Understand key daypart usage• Read Dan Zarrella

Use tools to help you manage your accounts• Hootsuite• Hootlet• Google reader• Klout

Create your own content to tweet

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THANK YOU

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