Some Quick Branding Tips for Individuals
Here’s a short one, but chock full of information that might be useful to you. You might not be ready to admit yet that you’re a brand. You might not have yet discovered the value of yourself as a brand. It might benefit you to start giving it some thought, and at least preparing for that potential outcome now, just in case. Here are some suggestions:
- Buy Your Name - Register your first and last name as a domain with GoDaddy or some other service, just to hold the real estate. If someone else has it, you can either back-order it, or pick something close enough that it will still hold value. Why? Because you might want it, that’s why. And buy your kids’ names as domains, too.
- Register your name as your username- on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Jaiku, Pownce, and all the social networks you choose to try out. If you want brand consistency, use the same name on all of them. Take it from a guy who uses a lot of these apps, if you’re more than one name on the sites, you get jumbled in my mind.
- Consider Your “Message”- If you’re using these social networks simply to connect, is there anything behind it? Are you just looking to have conversations with interesting people? Cool! You’ve got the right tools. Are you looking to meet friends, business partners, relationship mates? All great. But make sure you know how you’re thinking of using these things, and try to keep everything personal and genuine, and aligned with what you’re trying to accomplish.
- Branding is About Your Choices- There’s that “choice” thing again. Branding is every bit about what you decide to take on for work, and what you let go past. If you’re committed to doing X, then do X, or you’re putting out a serious message. Learn to say no, so that you have the space to focus on your core abilities. Make yourself do this and it will pay off in very short notice. Focus, be strong, and make good choices.
- Don’t Overlap- If you consider all these various networks as channels, presume we’re all on them, too. Or if not, think of a way to segregate what you’re saying, so that you’re not Twittering, Facebook statusing, and whatever else-ing the same status messages to me from various channels. If you’re a podcaster, I don’t need an email newsletter, a Ning group, a Twitter, and your Facebook status to tell me you’ve got a new show. Maybe pick one channel, and call that good *or* think about splitting your “lists” so that I get the message in only one format, if at all possible.
- Make Contact Easy- Do you have business cards that align with your message? Do you have contact information clearly and easily referenced on all your sites? Are you driving people to use your communications tool of choice? Consider that for a moment. If you don’t like answering the phone, tell people you prefer email, except for dire emergencies. People usually will honor your requests.
- Consider Your Behavior- Remember that branding isn’t logos, software, and usernames. It’s about presenting yourself in such a way that people get an impression of you and your value. People will form an impression regardless. The hope is that you’ve come up with ways for them to form a good one.
What’s your take? What have you done to build your personal brand? How do people understand the message you’re putting out? Do YOU understand it?
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Comments
My daughter has her own domain name and my son will too, once I register it. Buying your name ( and kid’s names) makes sense. The kids will thank us in a few short years. I mean it won’t require decades before they see the value.
Your article lays out the consistency of approach and clarity of purpose. These are both critical success.
I also feel that we need to be wary of succumbing to a culture of celebrity worship. Even if your idea of celebrity is having 20 RSS feed readers or 20 people following you on Twitter or 2,000.
The medium is not the message, is it?
This is a great post - and branding myself is something I’ve really been working on lately. I’ve been exploring Ning (thanks) as my digital “hub” and am really outlining what I’m ready - that’s key - to build as my personal brand. As someone who was once stalked - it’s not easy to get over hiding things and making who you are private. It’s only in the last few months that I feel ready to stop hiding behind a persona because it adds no value to myself and my company.
These are great things to keep in mind as I put together my strategy!
Oh and don’t let your name domain name expire (i.e. don’t register your name as a domain and let it expire) cause some squatters will grab it.
That happened to me for benyoskovitz.com.
Gggrr…
Great points! I especially agree with “Consider your Message”! If anything, Web 2.0 has highlighted how BORING and lot of really cool people are!
As far as baby names…
In 1999 I nervously did a nslookup to be sure that the name we were about to pick within the next few hours for our first son was available. It was. My wife thought I was a freak using a dial-up modem in the hospital room.
In 2002 I did the same thing, yet on a Handspring Visor w/ a OmniSky! She didn’t notice.
Both my boys have their own vanity domains, and I’ve gone on to snipe their gmail, yahoo, etc. AmI nuts!?
My wife thinks I’m nuts, but I’m pretty sure my kids one day will think their Daddy was dope on that move.
This is some great advice. When I first started working with social media I went around buying everything I could think of that was associated with my name and “social media guy”. I was able to secure gmail accounts, domain names, social networks, and blogs. Unfortunately i couldn’t get Twitter and MyBlogLog. MyBlogLog belongs to a crayon guy so i’m not even going to try that one but the Twitter person is completely inactive. He hasn’t made one post! How can I get it?
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[…] Some Quick Branding Tips for Individuals Filed Under Article | 6 Comments … for that potential outcome now, just in case. Here are some suggestions: Buy Your Name - Register your first and last name as a domain with GoDaddy or some other service, just to hold the real estate. If someone source: Some Quick Branding Tips for Individuals […]
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I had a t-shirt made on CafePress…which maybe wasn’t a *great* idea. Seriously though, you’re right everyone is a brand now. But funny that only about a decade ago the term “personal branding” would mean little to most of us. Before the age of social media, it was called a “handle”(really just an identifier). But now your presence gets magnified so quickly that just about all of us need a store-front and a message (which we stick to) just to communicate & participate effectively. Having a blog, podcast, etc is cool, but having them without Twitter, Fbook, etc. is like having a Fbook profile without a picture; people won’t trust you or even believe you exist.