Personal

Branding

For Technology Executives

Today

career climate 2011what is “personal” branding?justificationspersonal brand planningsocial media execution and ROI

DEFINING A NEED FOR PERSONAL BRANDING

Part one

Are tech leaders endangered?

Chief Information Officer

Chief Technology Officer

Director of IT

Manager of Information Systems

Old directions no longer apply.

economycompany volatilityunemployment ratemarket instability

Relatively few positions

Heavy competition

Pressure to evolveAND

RISING!

Source: State of the CIO Survey 2010

“We are the CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc.”- Tom Peters, Fast Company 1997

Predictable. Consistent.

(Personal Branding should not be like a Magic 8 Ball)

Phil? Oh yeah. I can tell you all about him.

“Brands are built on what people are saying about you, not what you’re saying about yourself.”

- Guy Kawasaki

COMMON OBJECTIONS AND THEIR JUSTIFICATIONS

Part two

Personal branding:Not just for job seekers!

Publicity & Awareness

Organization’s Credibility

Humanizes Your Company

Too busy?

If just 30 minutes a day meant a path to a better job, new business or happier employees, wouldn’t you invest the effort?

Fine for marketing people

Too cheesey for me!

Can executives be too available?

PERSONAL BRAND PLANNING

Part three

A personal branding plan

Assess

Plan

Implement

Maintain

Life & Career GoalsInventory of attributes, skills, experiencesInput from your “brain trust”

Résumé, Portfolio, Interviewing Skills, Website,Social Media, Networking Plan, Appearance…built on great stories!

Content planningStaying currentParticipating and Interacting

Measurement of KPI’sRegular re-assessmentPlan correction

What are your building blocks?

is for Affable is for Brilliant

is for Confident

Great story demonstrating

affability

Great story demonstrating

brilliance

Great story demonstrating

confidence

Building the brand

Your Foundational Qualities

Résumé, LinkedIn profile, communications

What you convey face-to-face

I’m affable

and here’s why!

Practice.

Makes.

Perfect.

Visual Identity should match brand

Smile

Clothing

Hair

Accessories

SOCIAL MEDIA BRAND EXECUTION

Part four

4 out of 5

5 Critical Questions

Who do you want to reach?

What do they want?

What action do you want them

to take?

How will you convince them?

How far are you prepared to go?

Who do you want to reach?

• Top influencers• Peers• Potential employers• Potential partners• Investors

What do they want?

• Real conversation• New ideas• Analysis• Humor / wit / fun• Attention

What action do you want them to take?

• Comment• Follow / friend / connect• Link / review / recommend• Buy• Hire• Meet• Partner• Engage!

How will you convince them?

Your distinctive…– Skills– Knowledge– Experiences

How far are you prepared to go?

• Patience• Tenacity• Alertness• Curiosity• Responsiveness• Interestingness

5 Critical Questions

Who do you want to reach?

What do they want?

What action do you want them

to take?

How will you convince them?

How far are you prepared to go?

Balance social media with work

• Know company policies• Set realistic goals• Start small• Stay manageable• Remember disclaimers• If it’s not fun, stop!

Step by Step: Getting Started

• What is the right channel for me?– Demographics– Writing, long or

short?– Pictures– Audio– Video

• One or many channels?

• How often is normal?

What is the right channel for me?

Social Network Demographics

Statistic Facebook LinkedIn MySpace Twitter YouTube

Monthly Unique Visitors (millions)

132 15 48 21 92

Gender % 43M/57F 50M/50F 36M/54F 43M/57F 50M/50F

Largest Age Group (% of whole)

45-54 (24%) 35-44 (31%) 0-17 (34%) 35-44 (29%) 18-34 (35%)

2nd Largest Age Group

36 -44 (20%) 45-54 (28%) 45-54 (19%) 45-54 (20%) 35-49 (24%)

Average Household Income

50-75K (36%) 75-100K (23%)

25-50K (39%)50-75K (35%)

25-50K (30%)50-75K (27%)

30-60K60-100K100K+ (27%)

Top global companies use many channels…

Source: ENGAGEMENTdb.com

… and reap significant rewards.

But most of them started small.

Just one channel.

How often is normal?

• Twitter or Facebook: 30 minutes a day

• Blogs: 1-2 updates/ week

• Bottom line: When you feel like it!

Measuring Your Investment

40

Unique visitorsPages visitedTime on siteBounce ratePostsCommentsPost: Comment ratioSearch engine ranking Sentiment

ReviewsRecommendationsReferralsTweetsRetweets (RTs)MentionsConnectionsFollowers

Some Free Tools• Google Analytics / Woopra• Google Alerts• HootSuite, Tweetdeck

ROUND-UP AND TAKE AWAYS

Part four

Take Aways

• For the foreseeable future, career management necessitates personal brand management

• Social media is a visible, practical way to establish and maintain a personal brand

• Social media personal branding only works in conjunction with your other career management efforts

• Start with stories that define and exemplify what you stand for professionally, then build messages and choose channels for delivery

• Measure your efforts critically and adapt

About

• Part of SPR Companies• A communications consultancy• Strategy, governance and accountability for

social media efforts• Performance management through planning

and metrics• socialsyntax.net