What is your “personal brand”? This is an area of growing concern in today’s times as more and more people participate and engage in social networking. Before the Internet revolution, the term “brand” was only used in the context of the business world.
The word “brand” brings to mind many variations of the same concept such as: “trade name”, “trademark”, and “a name, sign, symbol, or slogan”. Essentially a brand from a corporate perspective is the embodiment of anything and everything the company says, does, doesn’t say, doesn’t do, how they say it, what others say about them, how others perceive them, etc. The phrase “you are your brand” most effectively exemplifies this concept.
Fast forward to 2010 and this age of transparency to look at the term “brand” in the perspective it is used today. This is where the concept of “personal branding” plays a crucial role. Social media networking has enabled everyone to have their own personal brand by way of publicly sharing anything and everything they “say” on the World Wide Web. If you cut through all the semantics and take this concept of personal branding down to the most basic level, what you are left with is simply what is commonly referred to as your “reputation”. Your personal brand is your reputation.
What happens in this advanced age of technology and social media marketing to a company’s brand reputation when their employees have their own personal brand? This topic was discussed and debated at great length in Fortune Magazine’s article Building your brand (and keeping your job) by Josh Hyatt. Josh spoke about Scott Monty, Ford’s first global digital and multimedia communications manager and his use of social media to promote his own personal brand and Ford’s corporate brand. In summary, Scott was a social media guru with a high degree of credibility and 3,500 Twitter followers prior to accepting a position with Ford and had already earned his personal brand reputation. Scott used his social influence to further the goals of Ford and enhance their brand synergistically with his own brand. A perfect match!
What ensued after this article was published was an incredible amount of criticism about the way the author portrayed Scott Monty which is really not relevant to the topic of this post. This author sees the mutually-beneficial business relationship between Scott and Ford as an example of how to handle our new age of business that we find ourselves in today. It works for Scott and it works for Ford making this a win-win proposition.
However, more often than not, employees don’t capitalize on their personal brand to enhance the image of the company they work for. This is not to say that they wouldn’t want to help out their company, but rather to imply that many people use social media for their own personal use that has nothing to do with where they work. Yet companies are concerned with how their brand may be affected by an employee’s use of social media. Some companies prohibit their employees from using social networking sites in an effort to avert any damage that might be done to their corporate brand.
The solution to this potential problem is quite simple. If people would understand the impact their written word has and use good judgment in what they post, there would be no problem. Fortune Magazine also featured a case study called Edit Thyself, a very befitting title. The study discusses a young woman who was just “letting out some frustration” when she Tweeted something about her boss that got her fired. Moral of this story: Don’t let out your frustration in PUBLIC because EVERYONE will see it. Call a friend instead which is exactly what this young woman learned from her experience.
The bottom line here is, when using social media, remember that anything and everything you write can and will be read by anyone and everyone. Yes, some of the social networking sites like Facebook have privacy controls set-up, however, these controls change often and it is highly possible that you might forget to control these settings for even one comment that might not sit well with someone in your life – and that someone could be your boss.
It is really a matter of common sense. The problem is that, unfortunately, not everyone uses common sense either because they don’t have any or because they are busy doing a million things at once and they forget to think. This puts companies in the position of having to be concerned about their employees’ personal branding. Do they have a right to censor their employees’ personal branding? The answer to that is not clear, but until common sense becomes commonplace, companies do have something to be concerned about.
Originally posted as guest blog post for Compukol.
Unless you have been living in a cave, you have heard of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. But have you realized how strong the impact these sites and others are having on the marketing, advertising, PR and communications functions of your small business?
Marketing has been turned upside down from one based on traditional methods to a reputation and consumer-driven perspective. Consumers are relying more and more on what others say about your brand rather than what you tell them. Purchase decisions are made based on perceptions from others who have a strong influence on the decision-maker. One unhappy customer's story can spread like wild fire over the many available Internet communication channels. Because of this trend towards empowered consumers, companies are compelled to give special attention to their reputation and customer service.
Traditional marketing focused on getting your message out to the masses as often as possible relying on repetition as a key in influencing consumer decision making. While this is still important, it is superseded by a brand's quality of engagement, perceived value and level of trust.
Perceived value is an extremely important part of this new age of social media influence. In social media marketing, freebies have become the norm. The onus of creating this perceived value is on the small business owner to give things or information away for free in an effort to build relationships, provide value, and prove that he or she is an expert in their specific field.
In addition, response time has taken on a whole new level of importance. Gone are the days of getting back to an unhappy customer when you have the chance. While you are tending to other pressing business matters, a disgruntled customer may be sharing a perceived negative experience with your company by sending out a tweet, posting a blog article or writing on a forum site. As a small business owner, you no longer have the luxury of waiting to respond to a complaint – you need to act quickly to manage your reputation and tend to any negative publicity you might be faced with in the world of social networking.
Even in light of the changes in the business world today, this is not to say that traditional marketing methods are no longer effective. What it does mean is that the power of social media, both the positive and the negative, is a force to be reckoned with and should not be ignored by any business owner. Knowing the influence your reputation, customer service and perceived value has will put you in the driver’s seat when it comes to marketing your small business.
Capitalize on the positives and manage the negative effects of social media marketing to position your brand in the most favorable light.
Have you ever walked up to a cash register in a store and been met by an obviously unhappy employee? Have you ever walked into your boss' office and been greeted with a snarl? Have you ever called your friend on the phone and been perplexed by their obviously annoyed demeanor? Have you ever been home minding your own business when your daughter storms into the house and slams her bedroom door in your face?
I am sure you have all experienced at least one – if not all – of the above scenarios. Do you assume that you did something to make the other person angry? Perhaps "yes" at times and perhaps "no" at other times.
Seth Godin in David Byrne is angry with me talks about running into David – a man he is a big fan of and has run into before – and being snubbed by him. Seth's first reaction was to assume that David was angry with him but then realized that not only is David not angry with him, he more than likely doesn't even remember him. Seth says "In a digital age, our cues for social or marketing missteps might be mistuned. Sometimes, believe it or not, it's not (always) about us."
He makes a good point. It isn't always about you. As a matter of fact, it is almost arrogant to assume that you have that much of an impact on someone else 
Guest blog by Barnabas Nagy | FurlongDesign creative design studio | furlongdesign.com | barnabas.nagy@furlongdesign.com | twitter.com/furlongdesign | +44 77 99 56 56 26
Today I dared to open one of the archived newsletters from Entrepreneur. Since I am a web designer I don’t like reading titles such as this: Does Your Business Still Need a Website?
The article discusses the idea of establishing accounts on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn instead of a website. They evaluated an individual for whom this business strategy worked out. You can read the whole article here. Before giving out my space to social networks, I would like to look into this discussion further and let you know my opinion.
Rudy Mendoza totally abandoned his corporate website saying “We spent tens of thousands of dollars on our website and got almost nothing out of it” I’m really sorry for the designer team who created the website for Rudy Mendoza. They didn’t do a great job. A good website can be profitable.
3 Main Reasons Why Businesses Shouldn’t Ditch Websites for Social Networks:
1. Social networks serve a different purpose than a website. They serve as a tool to communicate directly with customers and achieve real time feedback. The functions of third party applications are complementary to a website but should not replace them.
2. Most social networks are found to be useful when companies and individuals link to additional information about them. Social networks are just a platform to jump from, not to jump into.
3. A website can drive as much sales as, and often times more than these social media networks. Although I have achieved leads and sales from social networking sites, the majority of my business has come from my website.
A brand cannot live without a good website that provides their customers additional information or the ability to purchase the product/service they are interested in. If the company tries to remove this component they risk damaging their branding. Who said you can’t have your cake and eat it too?
Companies should use websites and social media networks to market their products or services. Why should you have to choose when you can use both?
Note: I use social media networks and find that they have been useful in increasing brand awareness for Furlong Design but I would never forgo my corporate website for those sites. Let me know what you think by leaving comments below. Original source: http://furlongdesign.com/2010/04/14/does-your-business-still-need-a-website/
You have only a few seconds to capture a reader's attention enough to entice them to read your blog post.
It is therefore extremely important that your title/headline/opening paragraph be creative or interesting enough to assure that someone will read what you write in its entirety.
Captivate Your Readers With a Mind-blowing Blog Article Introduction offers some really great tips to make your blog posts stand out.
Mar 202010
"You are your brand" is my all-time favorite subject.
John Antonios in his article Personal Branding – The 10 Commandments, discusses the importance of providing quality and value to others as part of your personal branding process.
It is an article well worth the read.
