If you’ve been reading this blog, then you can probably grasp that my experience and content is skewed to online personal branding. I could say “brand yourself online” or “establish your brand online,” but in actuality, what you are really doing is creating an online persona that mimics who you are in “real life.” So instead of using this terminology that takes far too long to say, I propose we shorten it to “eBrand.”
eBrand – a digital representation of you on the internet.
Let’s further examine this definition. Notice how general this definition is. I did that on purpose. My reasoning here is that your eBrand doesn’t have to conform to a specific format. You can choose to represent your eBrand as a blog (people tell me all the time “your blog is your brand”), a simple website, or a profile on a social network. It’s your decision what you want people to see you as, in what form and how much information you want to communicate. Your eBrand could be a profile on LinkedIn, or a Facebook page. Both of these profiles rank quite high in Google, but they aren’t quite yours. Although an eBrand could be an existence on one or many of these sites, you need your own website that you control. If you don’t have the necessary skills, such as graphic design, HTML, software programs, FTP (File Transfer Protocol), amongst a few others, then you can always hire someone and take a few thousand dollar hit or take a seminar to learn more.
I use: Microsoft Expression Web, GoDaddy.com, Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Wordpress.com to do just about everything you’ve seen here and on my many other websites.
Depending on how much information you’ve gathered over time, as well as what type of position you’re looking for, you should customize your website to match those requirements. Remember not to just think about applying or being found for a specific job, but that this website will have longevity, therefore you need to make it focused, but general. Next, I’d like to show you many of the possibilities available to you, for which you can construct the framework of your eBrand. Some might be repetitive, but the idea here is to use words that match how you speak and the topics you want to include.
Choose your sections:
Press/media, contact, career highlights, distinctions, bio, blog, case studies, about, skills, experience, credentials, intro, consulting, vision, endorsements, resume, newsletters, news & events, volunteer projects, strengths, demo real, art portfolio, sample projects, personal information, professional information, wiki, speaking events, awards, profile, flickr photos, videos, social networks, associations, clubs, technical competencies.
You can even fashion your eBrand by taking your resume, splitting it apart, and placing each section as a different page within your site. I do feel that we should all include some “personal” information, not just work. In this way, you are rounding yourself out and establishing an emotional connection simultaneously. eBrand’s will soon get to a point, where you must use video to even be a “player in the game.”
eBrand yourself to success and subscribe now.
