Branding Yourself: How to Use Social Media to Invent or Reinvent Yourself(Que Biz-Tech)

Use Social Media to Build a Great Personal Brand–and a Great Career!   Need to demonstrate more value to customers or employers? Want a new job or career? Use social media to build the powerful personal brand that gets you what you want! In Branding Yourself, two leading social media consultants show how to use today’s social media platforms to attract new business and job opportunities you’ll never find any other way. Erik Deckers and Kyle Lacy show you how to supercharge all your business and personal relationships…demonstrate that you are the best solution to employers’ or partners’ toughest problems…become a recognized thought leader…and translate your online network into great jobs, great projects, and a great career!   Discover how to: • Build an authentic storyline and online identity that gets you the right opportunities • Choose the best social media tools for your personal goals • Blog your story boldly and effectively • Promote your events, accomplishments, victories…and even defeats and lessons learned • Integrate online and offline networking to get more from both • Reach people with hiring authority and budgets on LinkedIn • Use Twitter to share the ideas and passions that make you uniquely valuable • Launch an online branding program that really gets noticed • Avoid “killer” social networking mistakes • Leverage your online “expert” status to become a published author or public speaker • Measure the success of your social media branding • Get new projects or jobs through your online friends and followers  

Table of Contents:
I  Why Do I Care About Self-Promotion? 1  Welcome to the Party     3 What Is Self-Promotion?     5   Why Is Self-Promotion Important?     5   What Self-Promotion Is Not     6   What Can Self-Promotion Do for You and Your Career?     6 Personal Branding     6   What Is Personal Branding?     7   Go Brand Yourself     8   How to Build Your Brand     8 The Five Universal Objectives of Personal Branding     9   Discover Your Passion. (Passion Is Fundamental to Achieving Your Goals.)     9   Be Bold. (It’s Okay to Talk About Yourself.)     10   Tell Your Story. (Your Story Is What Makes You Special.)     12   Create Relationships. (Relationships Lead to Opportunities.)     13   Take Action. (Even a Small Step Is a Step Forward.)     14 Who Needs Self-Promotion?     15 Meet Our Heroes     17 2  How Do You Fit in the Mix?     19 The Basics of Building Your Personal Brand Story     21    Writing Your Personal Brand Autobiography     21   Prioritizing When Writing Your Personal Brand Story     22   Writing Your Personal Brand Biography     23   How Do Our Heroes Use the Personal Brand Biography?     25 Telling Your Complete Brand Story     27 Do’s and Don’ts of Telling Your Story     29   1. Don’t Post Pictures That Would Shock Your Mother     30   2. Don’t View Your Personal Brand Story as a Sales Pitch     30   3. Don’t Post Something You Will Regret Later     30   4. Don’t Ask for Things First.Ask for Things Second     31   5. Don’t Get Distracted     31   6. Don’t Underestimate the Power of Your Network     31   7. Do Invest in Yourself     32   8. Do Invest in Other People     32   9. Do Be Visible and Active     32   10. Do Take Some Time for Yourself     32 II  Your Network Is Your Castle–Build It 3  Blogging: Telling Your Story     35 What Is Blogging?     37 A Clarification of Terms     39 Why Should You Blog?     39 Choose Your Blogging Platforms     41   Blogspot.com/Blogger.com     41   WordPress.com and WordPress.org     43   Other Blogging Platforms     44 Which Platform Should You Choose?     47 Setting Up a Blog     47 Purchasing and Hosting a Domain Name     49 Getting Inspired     49 What Should You Write About?     50 Finding Subject Matter     53 How to Write a Blog Post     53 Writing for Readers Versus Writing for Search Engines     55 How Often Should You Post?     56 How Long Should Your Posts Be?     57 But My Posts Are Too Long     58 Search Engine Optimization Through Blogging     59 How Does This Apply to Our Four Heroes?     60 Do’s and Don’ts of Blogging     62   Do’s     62   Don’ts     63 A Final Note on the “Rules” of Blogging     63 4  LinkedIn: Networking on Steroids     65 The Basics of LinkedIn     67   What’s in a LinkedIn Profile?     67   Cool LinkedIn Features Worth Examining     71   Creating Contacts on LinkedIn     73   Transforming Your Contacts into Connections     77   The Importance of Recommendations     79 Ten Do’s and Don’ts of LinkedIn     82   1. Do Upload a Professional Picture     82   2. Do Connect to Your Real Friends and Contacts     82   3. Do Keep Your Profile Current     83   4. Do Delete People Who Spam You     83   5. Do Spend Some Time on Your Summary     83   6. Don’t Use LinkedIn Like Facebook and Twitter     84    7. Don’t Sync LinkedIn with Twitter     84   8. Don’t Decline Invitations. Archive Them     84   9. Don’t Ask Everyone for Recommendations     84   10. Don’t Forget to Use Spelling and Grammar Check     85 5  Twitter: Sharing in the Conversation     87 Why Should You Use Twitter?     88 What Can Twitter Do for You?     89 How Do You Use Twitter?     91   Creating a Twitter Profile     91   Getting Followers     92   Sending Out Tweets     93   Retweeting Your Content     94 Applications for Twitter Domination     96   Desktop Applications     97   Web-Based Applications      98   Mobile Applications     100 What Should You Tweet (and What Shouldn’t You?)     101 Do’s and Don’ts While Using Twitter     104 How Does This Chapter Apply to Our Four Heroes?     105 6  Facebook: Developing a Community of Friends     107 Why Should You Use Facebook?     108 What Can Facebook Do for You?     109   Reconnect with Old Classmates and Co-Workers     110   Use a Facebook Page to Professionally Brand Yourself      110   Help a Cause and Be Philanthropic     110   Find and Attend Local Events     111 What You Should Know First About Facebook     111   Professional Page and Personal Profile     112   The Basics: Creating a Personal Profile     114   Staying in Control of Your Profile     116 Working with Your Personal Page Privacy Settings     116   Setting Up Your Privacy Settings for Your Personal Account     117 Working with Your Customized URL     118 How Can I Use a Professional Page for Personal Branding?     119 Using Insights to Track Your Content Growth     120 Setting Up Your Professional Page     122 Top Five Tips for Using Facebook     123 Ten Do’s and Don’ts of Facebook     125   1. Do Upload a Real Picture     125   2. Do Share Industry-Specific Content     126   3. Do Use Your Email to Find Friends     126   4. Do Read the Terms of Service     127   5. Don’t Use Inappropriate Language     127   6. Don’t Spam People     127   7. Don’t Poke People     127   8. Don’t Tag Everyone in a Picture     128   9. Don’t Sync Your Twitter Profile with Your Facebook Page     128   10. Don’t Invite People to Your Professional Page Over and Over and Over     128 7  Bringing It All Together: Launching Your Brand     129 What Is a Personal Brand Campaign?     131 How Do Our Heroes Build Their P&T Statement?     133 Why Is a Personal Brand Campaign Important?     136 Building Your Personal Brand Campaign     137   Developing Your Personal Brand Campaign     137   Implementing Your Personal Brand Campaign     138   Automating Your Personal Brand Campaign     140 Unique Ways to Launch Your Branding Campaign     141 How Should Our Heroes Launch Their Brands?     143 Do’s and Don’ts of Launching Your Personal Brand     144 8  Measuring Success: You Like Me,You Really Like Me!     147 Why Should You Measure     149 What Should You Measure?     149   Reach     149   Quality Versus Quantity     150   Visibility     150   Influence     151 How Should You Measure?     153   Measuring Your Blogging Effectiveness     154   Using Google Analytics for Your Blog     155   Measuring Your Twitter Effectiveness     159   Measuring Your LinkedIn Effectiveness     160   Measuring Your Facebook Effectiveness     161 Ten Tools to Use for Measurement     164 Effectively Measuring Your Personal Brand     165 How Can Our Heroes Use Analytics and Measurement?     166 Do’s and Don’ts for Analytics and Measurement     167 III  Promoting Your Brand in the Real World 9  How to Network: Hello,My Name Is     171 Why Should I Bother Networking?     173 A Networking Case Study: Starla West     174 The Rules of Networking     175   It’s Not About You     175   Giver’s Gain Is Not Quid Pro Quo     176   Be Honest Online and Offline     178   You’re Just as Good as Everyone Else     179   Avoid People Who Are Unhelpful     180 Network with Your Competition     181 Three Types of Networking     182   Networking Groups     183   One-on-One Networking     188   The Follow-Up     193   Be Honest     196 Do’s and Don’ts of Networking     197   Do     197   Don’t     198 How Would Our Heroes Network?     199 10  Public Speaking:We Promise You Won’t Die     201 Case Study: Hazel Walker, The Queen of Networking     203 Should I Speak in Public?     204 No, Seriously     204 But I Hate Speaking in Public     204 Overcoming Your Fear of Public Speaking     205   Toastmasters     205   Classes at Your Local College or University     206   Seminars and Courses     206   Speakers Associations     207   Private or Executive Coaches     207 Finding or Creating Your Own Speaking Niche     207 How to Start Your Speaking Career     209 Identify Speaking Opportunities     211   Industry Groups     212   Civic Groups     213   Conferences, Trade Shows, and Expos     213   Introducing Yourself     215   Promoting Your Talk     216 How Does This Apply to Our Four Heroes?     218 Giving Your Talk     219 Important Technology Tips for Presenters     221 Miscellaneous Tips, 140 Characters or Less     225 11  Getting Published: I’m an Author!     227 Why Should I Become a Writer?     229 Publication Opportunities     230   Local Newspapers     231   Business Newspapers     232   Scientific Journals     233   Specialty Magazines and Newspapers     234   Hobby Publications     235   Major Mainstream Magazines     236   Go Horizontal Instead of Vertical     236 Build Your Personal Brand with Your Writing     237   Publication Rights     239   Create Your Own Articles Niche     240   Getting Started     241   Getting Paid     243 Paying Your Dues     244   The Myth of “Exposure”     245 Do’s and Don’ts ofWriting for Publication     246 How Can Our Heroes Turn to Writing for Publication?     247 12  Personal Branding: Using What You’ve Learned to Land Your Dream Job     249 Using Your Network to Find a Job     251   Twitter: Make Job Connections in 140 Characters     252   Use LinkedIn to Make Job Connections     253 Creating a Resume     256   Should I Create a Paper Resume?     257   How Does Social Media Fit in Your Resume?     258   Six Tips for Listing Social Media on Your Resume     258   Do’s and Don’ts of Resume Building     260 Don’t Rely on the Job Boards     263   Try the Company Job Boards Instead     264   Use LinkedIn to Bypass the Job Board Process     265 Skip HR Altogether, and Work Your Network     266   Using Your Network to Land a Freelance Contract     267   How Can Our Heroes Find a Job Through Networking?     268 A Social Media Case Study     269 Job Searching Tips in 140 Characters     271 Index     273  

About the Author :
Erik Deckers is the co-owner and vice president of creative services of Professional Blog Service, a ghost blogging and social media agency. He has been blogging since 1997 and speaks widely on social media topics. He is also a newspaper columnist and award-winning playwright.   Kyle Lacy is founder and CEO of Brandswag, a digital marketing firm working with businesses large and small. His blog, KyleLacy.com, has been featured on The Wall Street Journal online and many other blogs. He is also constantly ranked in many top blog sites around the world, most recently AdAge 150.   Deckers and Lacy coauthored Twitter Marketing For Dummies.