Personal Branding Weekly
The title from Jeff Shuey’s post this week, Don’t Get Mad….Get Productive, served as our mantra this week. From another announcement by Best Buy of bringing employees from home back to the office to the supersized cover photo changes on Google+ and Facebook’s newsfeed change announcements, there was quick a bit of social whining. If you were caught up in all that and you’re ready to get back on track, then settle in and read the posts you missed this week. Please be sure to comment. We always appreciate your feedback – every bit of it!
- 25 Ways to Brand Yourself and Find New Prospects by Deborah Shane
- Corporate Career Development – Is It Really About You? by Henrieta Riesco
- Information Keeps Your Personal Brand Current by Phil Rosenberg
- Home Bound Workers Caught in a Sinkhole by Nance Rosen
- Podcast #9: Yahoo!’s Policy, Personal Mission & Dan Black by Dan Schawbel
- How Blogs Help with Branding by Chamber of Commerce
- Spring Into Search: Spice Up Your Personal Brand by Heather Huhman
- Creating Proposals that Sell by Elinor Stutz
- For Success: Take the Emotions Out of Decision Making by Jason Kleinerman
- 5 Common Resume Mistakes That Can Sink Your Candidacy by Skip Freeman
- The Value of Face Time for Your Personal Brand by Kristen Fischer
- Why Employees Quit Their Jobs by Glassdoor.com
- Don’t Get Mad…Get Productive by Jeff Shuey
- Personal Branding is About the Person by Peter Sterlacci
- We’re Never Experts in Our Own Hometowns by Erik Deckers
- Collaborating With Others Is a Key to Success! by Beth Kuhel
- How to Handle Rejection from Michael Spinale
Coming up this week, we help kick you into high gear with Pete Liebman’s post on how to be incredibly productive every single day to, Henrietta Riesco’s post on dealing with clashing brands, Aaron McDaniel’s article about creating a positive legacy from the start and Peter Sterlacci’s insights on Zen Meditation and Healthy Social Habits. Make sure you look for these posts and so many other insights we’ll share this week!
What have you done to inspire others to speak positively about your brand? – Maria Elena Duron
The Importance of Fit
Engaging your audience isn’t always as simple as creating a basic post that can be used in any situation. Because there are numerous social mediums available, we must always consider that there are several different audience desires that coincide with them.
Basically, social networks and audience channels have different formats and different audience bases, all of which require a unique delivery of content. This means you’ll have to consider all the qualities of each audience. What interests them? How do they interact? Is there only occasional sharing of certain information? Do they prefer visuals? What about the content’s subject material?
Etiquette matters
Never neglect the importance of social etiquette. The last thing your personal branding strategy needs is to drive the audience away from your content by annoying, upsetting, or even confusing them. So always be sure that you know exactly what is expected of your interactions through any marketing channel. After all, you don’t want to find yourself guilty of “spamming” your networks and driving them away.
Visual boost
Then there is the culmination of so many different techniques and strategies, as we often notice in Facebook sharing. All forms of content can be shared, but not all forms are appreciated by every audience. Even here, there are certain strategies that take precedence over others. Primarily, Facebook users prefer pictures and memes, which simplify a message, but that doesn’t guarantee interaction. There is still the need to experiment with your content to see what works with your audience.
Visuals matter a lot to social. How can you improve your link’s visibility? [tweet this]
Methods would include using tools such as Post Rocket which can turn a regular link into a visual incentive by adding pictures from the site to your link.
Space is limited
Then there’s the need to deliver a fast and simple message that gains the most visibility. For example, Twitter formats require that you deliver your message quick and short, so there isn’t really much time or space to carry on a lengthy conversation. This means you’ll need to be compelling within the first few words. Additionally, incorporating influential techniques, such as hashtags, allow you to connect with other users of common interest. Google + and Twitter both take advantage of this, just be sure it isn’t the bulk of your shared content.
Link to influence
This brings up the aspect of links. When and where should you link within your post? Using the right content at the right time, such as video or hyperlinks to your blog, will affect how your post appears to the reader. Do they see the link and have to read further to decide what it means to them? Is it merged into the content effectively? Is it hard for them to find?
Reaching through video is extremely popular on various channels, but only when done properly. Be sure that you make your content as shareable, across all platforms, as possible. Are you using a transcript to further repurpose your message and get more mileage from the content you’ve created? Can the content of your video be shared effectively? Is it mobile friendly? There are several qualities needed to help channel the best in your brand.
When it comes to your brand’s marketing strategy, the networks and tools available are as various in natures as those who are actively using them. Not all social networks or media tools will work for your brand, but it is ultimately up to you to make the right ones work for your marketing channel.
Author:
Maria Elena Duron, is managing editor of the Personal Branding Blog, CEO (chief engagement officer) of buzz2bucks– a word of mouth marketing firm, and a professional speaker and trainer on developing social networks that work. She provides workshops, webinars, seminars and direct services that help create conversation, connection, credibility, community and commerce around your brand. Maria Duron is founder and moderator of #brandchat – a weekly Twitter chat focused on every aspect of branding that is recognized by Mashable as one the 15 Essential Twitter Chats for Social Media Marketers.
