Who are you…..?
Or more importantly who do you want others to perceive you to be. With the emergence of social media more and more of our lives are becoming visible to others. In some ways this is good and in other it has been disastrous.
Most people consider marketing something that only business need to be concerned with, though each of us have our own personal brand. Our personal brand is the person that others perceive us to be.
Historically most people’s personal brand encompassed first impressions and our résumé. In our current time where social media is a large part of our life our personal brand now encompasses many other elements; blogs, social forums, email addresses, web sites…. If we are not careful and do not plan our interactions carefully we could be creating a personal brand that is contrary to what we want it to be.
For the longest time I stayed out of the social media arena because I wanted to be careful not to harm my professional image with a lot of personal stuff that my employer, potential employer or clients do not need to know about. Recently I came to a realization that I am also hurting my personal image as much as I am protecting it. In essence if I am not visible in the social media arena I am reducing my visibility and my professional image only encompasses personal interaction and what others write about me. I finally started to get out there and did some research and planning so that I can be wise about my activities. I have made mistakes none of which have been embarrassing though they could have led that way if I was not already being a little shy about my interactions.
The first suggestion that I would make is to try to segment your personal and professional life as much as possible. This starts with your email address. Get a professional email address, one that is not tied to your internet service. Using your free accounts that come with your internet service is convenient though if you ever change your service it could cause issues with people wanting to connect with you professionally. Plus, by using those emails you are doing more marketing for your service provider than you are for yourself. Use an address that is professional. CutE85@hotmail.com is probably not a good representation of someone who wants to get into public office. Remember first impressions are extremely important and in these times potential employers my have more interaction with our email address than they do with us personally. Try to keep your professional and personal addresses different enough that if someone Google’s your professional email address they do not come up with your personal life as well.
Social networking sites can be important to building or destroying your personal brand. Be careful on what you post and who can see your posts. Don’t just befriend anyone that requests it. Make sure that they are people you know. You would not want a comment made by a “friend” to potentially cause you embarrassment to you professionaly. According to Melanie Gallegas (link) 8% of US companies have sacked social media miscreants. Whether you like it or not you represent the company you work for. If you list their name on your linkedin account, mention them on your Facebook page or wear their company logo and post a picture of it online then you represent them for good or bad. Following are a few examples of how poor choices in social media have affected other’s employment.
Stacy Snyder (story quoted from a myspace.com forum)
“In the absence of strong protections for employees, poorly chosen words or even a single photograph posted online in one’s off-hours can have career-altering consequences. Stacy Snyder, 25, who was a senior at
Unknown Coke employee (quoted from an article by Janine Yancey)
“During the height of the cola wars in 2003, a Coke delivery driver was fired for sipping a Pepsi on the clock, while a
Unknown Facebook User (paraphrased from a presentation done by Melanie Gallegos)
A Facebook user posted a comment about how she hated her job and that her bass was a “Wanker”. Unfortunately for her she did not remember that she had added her boss to her list of friends and he promptly responded that she did not need to report to work the next day.
A potential Cisco employee (quoted from an ABC New article by Dalia Fahmy)
“One Twitter user posted an update last year saying "Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to
A Cisco employee responded, "Who is the hiring manager? I'm sure they would love to know that you will hate the work. We here at Cisco are versed in the Web."
Needless to say, the applicant did not end up working at Cisco.”
On the other hand your social media presence can work for you. The other day I was in a training session for a product called SharePoint from Microsoft. During the meeting the trainer had commented that if we wanted to know more about a specific topic that we should check out a person’s website (to be honest I forgot her name and did not write it down). She was not an employee of Microsoft. She is just considered an expert on that platform as a result of her social media interactions. She has made a name for herself doing nothing more than blogging about helpful hints and learned best practices that she has come across.
Another example is from one of my favorite authors, Brandon Sanderson. Not too long ago another one of my favorite authors, James Rigney (AKA Robert Jordan) had passed away. Sanderson had posted a blog about Rigney’s influence in his life and how it helped to give him direction in his current profession as a Science Fiction writer. The message that he wrote was very touching. So much that Rigney’s widow, Harriet, had somehow got a hold of this note and later contacted Sanderson to finish Rigney’s legacy in writing the final book (later to become three books) of the Wheel of Time series. The fact that Sanderson is a wonderful writer also playing into her decision I am sure.
After hearing about these stories you may be thinking, “Hey we live in a country where we have free speech and should be able to say what we want to say.” That is true though that free speech can still have negative impacts. Whether you like it or not you represent your company and employers or potential employers will not want to be associated with anyone that could do their brand harm. They may not come out and say that you did not get hired, did not get promoted or did not get the desired raise because of your social media interactions but that does not mean it did not happen and they found another reason to disguise it. By all means use your rights to free speech though do it in a way that it does not mar those that you professionally represent.
It is important for you to take control of your personal brand and control the parts of it that you want your professional network to see. Businesses do this all the time through the use of SEO and SEM. Take control of your personal brand and how your professional network perceived you. Gallegos mentioned in her presentation some elements that I am going to expand upon that you should consider in planning and implementing your personal brand.
- Come up with a “keyword”; your full name, nickname, married name or “handle” that you want to own and stick to it.
This is especially important if you have a common name. I have a very common name. In fact if you were to Google my name the chance of getting any info about me is next to impossible. Most likely your first hits will be regarding the
- Buy a domain and build a website of blog.
If possible have a domain name that matches your “keyword”. Also make sure that the content is appropriate. Expressing you thoughts about a drunken party the previous evening on your Small Business Technology blog would not set the right tone. Also, if you are trying to promote yourself as a web designer please have a decent website. I was involved in a situation where I was helping a friend find a web designer for his small business. He did not have enough to pay for a big company to do it so we were looking at some independent developers. I was sadly disappointed by the number of people who were promoting their services and had terrible websites themselves. Make sure that if you profess a certain profession or skill set that it can be backed up by what people can see.
- Use an email address from your professional domain as your email address for all professional correspondence.
Do not use your personal email address for professional use. It will make it too easy for personal interactions to become professional correspondence. If you use social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter… have a profile associated to your personal email and another for your professional email. Yes that will make it a pain to manage though it can save you some potential embarrassments in the future. Also if you have a smart phone where you keep your social networking sites logged in at all times have it connected to your personal account. You do not want the boss to know that you are out golfing with a buddy when you are supposed to be at home sick.
- Link all of your professional networking sites together using your “keyword” and with links to your profile.
An example: Recently I have started writing articles for one of my favorite websites, CodeProject (though I only have two articles up there as of yet). On my profile for that website, I added a link to my LinkedIn profile. My LinkedIn profile has a link to my Facebook profile. My Facebook profile has a link to my CodeProject profile. And all three have links to my technology blog. All of these accounts I have associated to the same email address that I use for all of my professional interactions.
- Blog positioning your credibility, personality or expertise/thought leadership.
If you blog make sure that your blogs are relevant to your personal brand. Show that you know what you are talking about and that you are a leader or expert in that field. Don’t spend time talking about how great you are. No body likes personal aggrandizements. Be humble and let your work speak for itself. Make sure to keep confidential information out of your blogs. Hackers and corporate pirates constantly look at social media to find info that can help them to steal or get an edge of other businesses. Many times you will see a system admin posting a specific problem that they encountered and put too much detail in to the note and gave someone all the info that they would need to hack into the company’s website. If you pick up any “how-to” book in hacking the first think it will recommend is to check help groups and blogs to get info that can help to hack the network.
- Consistency.
People like others that they can rely on. If you are a blogger and you really want to build your brand through that medium then you need to blog about relevant info and often. If you only post a blog once every three months or are inconsistent on your schedule then others will not know when to check out your blog and may lose interest. This is something that I am not good at and plan to get better at. Keep your websites up-to-date and relevant. If you are a hardware specialist then having how-tos relating to fixing a IBM 386 is not going to help you.
- Never assume that anything you post is private
Even on your personal profiles if you assume that anything you post is public even though you have your privacy options set and act accordingly then you will be pretty safe.
- Be aware of who you befriend
Don’t just accept anyone as your friend. Remember that your “friends” also represent you. If you befriend your college buddy’s personal profile on your professional profile and someone in your professional network checks out their page and sees pictures of you dancing on a table after a weekend of dubious behavior the damage is almost as bad as if you posted it on your profile directly. Make sure that your friends understand what that profile is for and act accordingly.
- Be thoughtful about what you put in writing.
Sometimes we are in a hurry to put out a post and put it together quickly to get it out. Make sure that you use spell check and that your grammar is decent. You do not want people to think that you could not handle yourself in a conversation with important people. Also if you are going to quote something provide a reference or link to the information to help provide credibility. In fact there is value in doing so. Links to other sites helps you in regards to search engine optimization. In fact if you reference someone and provide some decent information it could not hurt to send that person a note about it in hopes that they might also link to you in order to drive more traffic and build your name faster.
- When corresponding with others, be diplomatic and engaging.
Never use harsh words or disparaging comments to criticism someone’s words or work. It only makes you look like the fool and may detract from others wanting to associate with you in fear that you might do the same to them. Also it could get you banned from certain sites which would hurt you in your ability to build your brand.
- Include social media elements in your résumé.
If you include your professional website, blogs, email and such in your résumé you will helping to direct potential employers where you want them to go. They will be less likely to Google you and come up with things that you do not want them to see. Not only will this help direct them where you want them to go it can help to show more of your expertise and leadership that it not possible to show in a one or two page résumé.
- Professional logo.
Use an appropriate photo. You should be dressed appropriately and it should be of you. Your pictures of your kids are cute and all but your professional network wants to know about you not your kids.
- Monitor your personal brand
Make sure that you know what others are saying about you. “Google” your “keywords” often to make sure that you are still presenting the personal image that you want to portray. If something negative comes up work to resolve it quickly so that you can reduce any potential issues it could cause. It is true that you can delete comments placed on your Facebook wall though if you get to it after you boss or potential client has already seen it then the damage is already done. Do not allow others to post comments on your social networking sites message boards. You cannot control what they will write and you will be opening yourself up to a potential risk.
- Don’t participate in bad mouthing your employer
Not only could it potentially lead to being black listed or termination in your current employment it could lead prevent you from getting hired somewhere else. Potential employers would be hesitant to bring you on in fear that you would do the same about them. You will be considered damaged goods. Instead of focusing on the bad things about your job, focus on the good things. If there are no good things then do not say anything, just quit and find somewhere else to work. There are a lot of companies out there. If that is not an option then see if there is anything you can do to help make the situation better. If you are allowed to help bring about change, not only would it help to make you happier but is would look great on a résumé.
Remember that everything you do is a potential impact on your personal brand. You want those things that are positive to be in the forefront. Take time to plan out how you want other to perceive you. If you are not sure yet at least lay the ground work so that when you are ready you can make the move without much work. Some sites do not allow the changing of email accounts and you do not want to get locked into something that would not enhance your personal brand.
References:
http://www.salesandmarketing.com/msg/content_display/training/e3i111888fc4afd5a6a15a93bde975fac05
http://www.slideshare.net/gearyinteractive/social-media-for-employment-2020310
http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/07/facebook-faux-pas-what-not-to-do-in-social-network-view/
