Personal Branding and Social Media

October 9, 2007 · Comments

Grammar Girl Branding, branding, branding. People ask me about this often, citing the fact that they seem to find me everywhere on the Net. First off, I think that finding me everywhere just means that I’m spending too much time claiming my name on all these various social networks, not that I’m well-branded. You want great branding advice? See my new friend, John Moore from Brand Autopsy. Or learn from the woman in this picture, Grammar Girl. These folks know more about branding than me, and yet, I’ve got an idea or two

Here are some ideas specific to your use of social media as part of your personal branding strategy.

Stick With One Name

If you’re one name on your blog and another name on Twitter, and forced into a semi-real seeming name on Facebook, and using something different for Skype, how will I know it’s you? I’ve got a new friend here that fits that description. When she added me in Facebook, I didn’t know who she was. It took a little bit of dissection to get it, but that’s okay. Stick with one name if you want folks remembering you easily.

Make a Good About Page

I owe someone credit, and I forget who. They linked to my About page as an example of something telling about who you are. (When I look at it, I see that I’m going to add even more to my about page).

Simply, put your name (at least your first name), and some reason for why we’re participating in your media (your blog, your podcast, whatever). Don’t make your about page about the company, at least not first. Make it about a human that we can get to know. If you have a multi-author blog, all the better. Make a page for ALL of you. Make it human.

Email Signatures

Add a link to your personal media on your email signature. Don’t make it super huge and complex, because then no one reads them. Here’s how much I’ve compressed mine:

Chris Brogan…
Video on the Net | PodCamp
631-612-8945 | [chrisbrogan.com]

In my case, I list the two most likely ways you know me because I’m often sending emails to folks who might have met me once or twice, but might need their memory jogged. Note that I have my website URL in there. That’s because I want to drive more people to visit my site and know me through my media.

Cut Back on Widgets

I’ve visited a bunch of websites over the last several days and I’ve seen an abundance of widgets along the sidebars. Some of them make sense, but several seem a little overly silly. I use widgets that help strengthen the brand of the site. In my case, I’ve got a MyBlogLog widget that shows who’s stopped by the page directly. I’ve got an Upcoming.org widget to show you which events I’m attending so you can meet me. I’ve got a Google Reader Shared Items widget to show you other articles I’ve read and liked lately, and I’ve got a few buttons for events and things I support.

Rethink your widgets.

Build a Topics Catalog

A week or two ago, I jotted off 100 Blog Topics I Hope You Write. If you’re finding it difficult to know what to blog about, keep a text file somewhere of potential subjects. Add to it when you’re feeling creative. Swipe a post or podcast or videoblog from it when you’re looking for inspiration. Remember that your audience deserves your very best. Give it to them all the time. Reading a blog post about nothing isn’t all that exciting. Reading a bunch in a row, with a long pause, and then an apology that you’re not blogging much lately is a way to lose me forever. A topics catalog will help.

Your Turn

So, you’re the expert too, you know. I bet you’ve got ideas on how you’ve used your social media to brand yourself. Tell me about your graphics, about the things you took special care to make just right, about your favorite ways to spread your brand around. If you have questions, share them here and I’m sure we’ll get them answered. Let’s see what comes up.

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  • I branded you this AM on "connotea !" Branding is good for all social media Pro's ! It hasn't hurt Coca Cola, and Google has done an excellent job of Branding ! You are making an excellent point's !
    "Remember that your audience deserves your very best. !" This point you made above may be the secret ! Widgets are a tough decision ! I alway's wonder of they create traffic! Excellent Article !
  • Turns out, all I needed was a hot pink boa. :)
  • Did someone say personal branding? Never heard of the concept.
  • My idea? Use COLOR.

    It happened for me quite by accident. Seth Godin's "Purple Cow" launch was supplemented by a nice little ebooklet of case studies called "99 Purple Cows" - and he was gracious to include my story in it.

    Since then, I've branded most things with the color purple - and the tag line: "Dr.Mani - he's DIFFERENT!"

    Website: http://www.b--Different.com
    Blog: http://EzineMarketingCenter.com
    Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/drmani
    MySpace: http://www.MySpace.com/drmani

    All success
    Dr.Mani
  • Oops, sorry, the link for my blog above should be:

    Blog: http://EzineMarketingCenter.com/blog/

    Dr.Mani
  • Jen Flanigan
    Unfortunately, by the time some of us realize the value of branding, we've already done a fair bit of damage to our own. So my question is this: What if you already have a fractured brand and are looking to make it cohesive again? What steps can people take to repair damaged branding?

    I'd love to hear thoughts on this!
  • Ha! You nabbed me, but I totally agree! :-) There's an interesting history behind all my monikers. Someone in the blogosphere used to call me a moving target, LOL. Because I've created several semi-fictional characters I've adopted several names. I came to be well known in the local blogosphere as my first character, Manola, but I had to change that because some folks were not getting the fact that Manola was a semi-fictional character and that her author is a REAL person. (Yes, people were "literally" calling me by a name other than my own.) This made for some uncomfortable encounters when some people started taking certain liberties that were quite discourteous. Put simply, I had to set a boundary. This was a lesson I had to learn, because I never in a million years imagined Manola would become popular. If I could go back and start over, I would, which is what I'm trying to do. Manola no longer Twitters, I do. When I'm "latinbombshell" I'm the real me. When I use Manola, Dr. Annie, Professor Chancleta, etc; you know I am speaking in character. And on Facebook, I use my real name, because I've chosen to deploy that utility as a networking/staying in touch tool. I also created a separate page on Blogger to distinguish myself from Manola. I'm a writer/occasional cartoonist first and foremost. Manola doesn't even exist!
  • Hi Chris,

    Great to meet you at Blogtoberfest, by the way.

    Part of my personality has always been to pick up rocks and look under them, or point out the 800 lb gorillas in the room. I don't do it to be a jerk; I'm just curious.

    I'm very new to a lot of the social media apps, but it seems that not very many of my travel writer buddies are talking much about them beyond blogs. If I Google the topic, I get a bunch of links from travel companies and travel PR firms that are trying to figure out how to make money from it, but not many from straight-stick travel writers.

    Since part of my brand is to provide practical travel info, I decided to take a swipe at it myself. Last night, I wrote a Perceptive Travel blog post 6 ways travelers can use social media.

    It's laughably basic stuff from a tech expert perspective, but it's very new to many of my readers, so I don't mind looking dumb.

    That's how I used social media to extend my brand, aka "Sheila who looks at the weird stuff." :)
  • Be consistent in the way you interact with people - including the way you link, promote, collaborate, comment. Especially the commenting thing - I feel I've learned most about people online from the way they comment - on other people's blogs, on mine and on their own.

    Joanna
  • Before I was really serious about creating an online brand, I used some crazy url, that over time, has built up a few readers. I want to pull everything under a domain that is central to me and include my blog as a branch.

    What is everyones opinion on making a change like this? Will it take some time to get all my Google juice (what little I have) back again?

    I guess maybe I'm less worried about GJ and more worried about those that have links to archive posts. I use FeedBurner so I should be ok moving the RSS feed. Has anyone done this and how successful was it?

    Thoughts?
  • ACK! You're right. But I started with a "nom de web" like PurpleCar because, again, I feared for my safety, personally and legally. Lately, I've "come out" of the anon. blogger closet. I'm Christine Cavalier, and I'm a blogoholic.

    *everyone: "Hi Christine"*
  • Grammar Girl
    It was great to finally meet you at the PME, my brown corduroy jacket friend.

    As always, you provide great advice! I'm going to get cracking on my signature and "about" page.
  • Thanks, Chris. I agree whole-heartedly with sticking with one name. Unfortunately some systems force you to choose another if yours is already taken, which has been a pain for me. Also I was waivering between whether to be semi-anonymous with a fancy handle or using my real name, and ended up with a sorry mix as a result. I have tried to back-track to put in my real name, and that has ended up awash. I may need to start again with things like Twitter and Skype. I wish systems built in easier ways to change my name!

    We also learned this the hard way with a conference I am working. The conference is in a series called "Northeast Regional Law Libraries Meeting" which when working we shortened to "NE2007". This year's conference theme is "Libraries Without Borders." We advertised "Libraries Without Borders" and all the local people working on the conference (a considerable number!) didn't know what it was, didn't connect the two. Similar confusion with one of our major sponsors. If I could go back I would have thought about the branding differently on this one.

    Cheers!
    Connie

    "connieblogger"
    "conniec"
    "Connie Crosby"
  • I took a similar approach months back on my blog, http://funanymore.com . My actions were predicated on an assumption: the more "stuff" I put on a single page, the more things vying for attention. And I wanted the attention to be focused on what I had written.

    So to that end, I went with several "sub pages" of content, going on the assumption that if anyone was interested in more information, they'd take the time to find that information. I didn't have to shove all of it in the sidebar. In fact, I've spent way too much time scrolling through blog rolls and contact lists, and previous posts, and most recent comments, and most recent visitors, and a list of all the blogs that link here, and a list of all the social media site, and a list of all ... you see where this is going.

    So I stopped the insanity. I make sure that I used some sense and sensibility when I grouped things together, and hopefully made it easy for people who *want* more information to get more information.

    At least... I hope I did that.
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