Your Online Brand – how it affects you and your corporation.

By Robin Low

perception

You are as good as

how people perceive you.

are you using social media?

If you are a young adult, the chances are – Yes, you

are using Social Media to connect with your friends.

Do you have a blog, Facebook account, Twitter

account? Do you leave comments on blogs or

forums?

digital footprintInternet users are becoming more aware of their digital

footprint

Most internet users are not concerned about the amount of

information available

Most do not take steps to limit that information

Fully 60% of internet users say they are not worried about

how much information is available about them online

Majority of online adults (61%) do not feel compelled to limit

the amount of information that can be found about them

online.2008 PEW RESEARCH CENTER

I know you

Anyone can tell a great deal about you from your digital footprints.

- where you've been- where you are- who you know- where you work- what your hobbies are- what you think about certain issues-and much more.

why should people be concerned?

HR departments, recruiters, universities are searching the Internet when you Interact with them.

They're looking to:a) validate what your actual resume saidb) learn more about you … in a non office environment

GOOGLE is a very common tool!In essence, your digital footprint is your resume.

generation Y, the millennials

Gen Y, are major drivers of the next three trends.

Uploading audio, video and other media sharing.

Communicate via text-messaging, Twitter and instant-messaging over e-mail.

Keeping in touch with each other online via social-networking sites.

why should you be

concerned?

Differentiation

1998 No of people

• Graduating in China– 800,000

• Graduating in Canada– 1,000,000

2008 No of people

• Graduating in China– 7,800,000

• Graduating in Canada– 1,250,000

• India ???www.bls.gov and World Socialist Web Site

Globalization

• Developed nations outsourced manufacturing and white collar jobs.

-- less jobs for their people

• Job insecurity, mergers and acquisition

• Job competition – many people with similar skills globally compete for same job

• World travelers – people are free to travel across borders freely

Understanding your Digital Footprint

properties of social media

1.Persistence. What you say sticks around. This is

great for asynchronicity, not so great when

everything you've ever said has gone down on

your permanent record.

2.Replicability. You can copy and paste a

conversation from one medium to another,

adding to the persistent nature of it. This is great

for being able to share information, but it is also

at the crux of rumor spreading.

• 3. Searchability. It is quite easy to track someone down

or to find someone as a result of searching for content.

Search changes the landscape, making information

available at our fingertips.

• 4. Scalability. Social media scales things in new ways.

Conversations that were intended for just a friend or two

might spiral out of control and scale to the entire school

or, if it is especially embarrassing, the whole world.

• 5. (de)locatability. With the mobile, you are dislocated

from any particular point in space, and location-based

technologies make location much more relevant. This

paradox means that we are simultaneously more and

less connected to physical space.

properties of social media (cont)

dynamics of social media

1. Invisible Audiences. We are used to being able to assess the people around us when we're speaking. We can adjust to our audience. Social media introduces all sorts of invisible audiences.

There are lurkers who are present at the moment but whom we cannot see, but there are also visitors who access our content at a later date or in a different environment than where we first produced them.

As a result, we have to present ourselves and communicate without fully understanding the potential or actual audience. The potential invisible audiences can be stifling.

dynamics of social media (cont)

2. Collapsed Contexts. In choosing what to say when, we account for both the audience and the context more generally. Social media brings all of these contexts crashing into one another and it's often difficult to figure out what's appropriate, let alone what can be understood.

3. Blurring of Public and Private. These distinctions are normally structured around audience and context with certain places or conversations being "public" or "private." These distinctions are much harder to manage when you have to contend with the shifts in how the environment is organized.

google you

It's critical to learn how to monitor

and manage electronic information

about yourself.

You can't control all the information

You can ensure that your digital

footprint presents an accurate,

favorable, and professional image of

google you

Google yourself (yes Google is now

a verb) and find out what information

about you — if any — is already

online.

You may find very little is linked to

your name, or you may discover

much more information about you

than you anticipated.

Hi I’m Robin Low…• http://www.facebook.com/socialhub• http://www.facebook.com/DMacademy• http://www.facebook.com/catwisdom• http://www.linkedin.com/in/robinlow88• http://blog.newsocialmediabrand.com/• http://blog.unleashyourbranding.com/• http://life-in-boston.blogspot.com/• http://reviewsguru.blogspot.com/• http://satsugaicat.blogspot.com/• http://www.slideshare.net/robinlow• http://www.slideshare.net/dmediaacademy• http://twitter.com/robin_low• http://twitter.com/satsugaicat• http://www.rediscoverosarito.org/• http://www.greenyarn.com/• http://www.facebook.com/Greenyarnllc

YOU

If an online search of yourself

reveals items that you wouldn't

want hiring managers to see, such

as photos or commentary you

posted in an open forum, contact

the person who posted the

information or the website

administrator to ask that it be

taken down.

YOU

Not happy with the results?

Re-evaluate your participation

habits and make adjustments.

It is never too late or too early

to start and rebrand yourself.

Personal BrandingPersonal Branding

• Today, staying in a company for a long period of time is a rare phenomenon. The median years a person stays in one job is 4.1 years (2008), an average person will have to have 7-10 jobs. With that 4.1 median years of employee tenure, the person has to have multiple of jobs. Of course, there will be people who can stay in 3-4 jobs throughout their lifetime. It depends on education, age, and gender.

• Your personal brand will the constant in the ultra dynamic environment, where you must demonstrate values to attract opportunities that align with your skills, passions and strengths.

•More information here: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/tenure.nr0.htm

what is personal branding?

• The process by which individuals and entrepreneurs differentiate themselves and stand out from a crowd by identifying and articulating their unique value proposition, whether professional or personal, and then leveraging it across platforms with a consistent message and image to achieve a specific goal.

• In this way, individuals can enhance their recognition as experts in their field, establish reputation and credibility, advance their careers, and build self-confidence.

-- Dan Schawbel

why is personal branding important?

• "18% of working college graduates report that their employer expects some form of self-marketing online as part of their job.“

-- Digital Footprints, Pew Internet and American Life Project, December 2007.

• "22% of managers screen their staff using social networks and 10% of admissions officers verify potential students using social networks.“

-- Careerbuilder.com & Kaplan

• "There are 1.5 million graduating college students for 2009 and employers are only hiring 1.3% more of them. Differentiation through branding is imperative for success."

-- Hartford Courant & WSJ

personal branding as corporate strategy

• Talent development – employees have power to deliver on the corporate brand promise in individual ways.

• When staff is fully engaged, individuality is unearthed, embraced and nurtured –companies get the best, not the most.

• Human capital is a company’s greatest asset and individual personal brand can increase the reach of corporate brand.

why is personal branding important to corporate?

• 90% of Social Media Crisis are created internally by lack of or poor social media policies.

• Communications not filtered down properly from top, employees feel detached and not engaged.

• Employees who are engaged will be more loyal, productive and can spread the corporate brand!

Process

A well-executed personal branding campaign creates a strong, consistent, and specific association between the individual and the perceived value they offer. Personal branding is common among entertainment, political, and sports figures. In business, individuals such as Donald Trump, Martha Stewart, and Jack Welch have created enormous personal visibility and success by actively promoting their personal brands. Donald Trump will show you how to get rich. Martha Stewart will show you how to look good. Jack Welch will show you how to manage a business.

Personal branding typically begins with establishing an inventory of core competencies, expertise, demonstrated abilities, and existing level of recognition, informed by market research or feedback.

Questions to be answered revolve around who needs to know about you, what need are you best-positioned to fill, and what differentiates you from others in your field or space?

Personal Branding consists of three elements:

• Value Proposition: What do you stand

for?

• Differentiation: What makes you

stand out?

• Marketability: What makes you

compelling?

keep it real

• Branding is not bragging. Many people label themselves as "Gurus", "Experts" or "world renowned", and those who are not will run the risk of being exposed. Sincerity and being authentic will build trust which is important when building relationships. Like romantic relationships, genuineness, openness and being up front from the start are important for personal branding as well. Maintaining open communication and assuming accountability for your actions is also key.

visibility creates opportunity

success is being prepared for opportunity

• Though this saying is true,

opportunity usually comes with

visibility. (E.g. Susan Boyle)

• Other ways of getting visibility is

networking.

Opportunities and advancements will

arise through networking and

visibility.

Effective brand messaging can create

awareness and create opportunities.

Visibility also allows you to spread

influence within your company or

industry, capturing the attention of

peers and convincing them of your

abilities while establishing trust and

mutual respect.

Networking

networking

• Networking can help in getting things done.

• Whether internally (within a company) or externally, know other people can improve communications.

• Knowing more people can allow you to spread your influence and get discovered, otherwise you can get more ideas.

The dos and don'ts of effective networking

1. Reach out. Stay connected

2. Meet, talk and listen. No one is too insignificant, too old, too young, too vague or too remote until you have spoken and interacted with them.

3. Network with your own sort and reach out to those who are beyond your professional realm.

4. Develop your communication skills, you will not only win contacts and clients but friends for life.

5. Be your best. People size you up during the first 15 seconds after you are introduced.

6. Give and receive -- Give in order to receive.

everyday celebrity

• Every wondered how some regular individuals rose to celebrity status and what opportunities it brings?

“Opportunity has no birth date,

though it most definitely has an

expiration date.”

“Your message is what will define you.”

even the

bad

messages

Case Study 1: The story of 2 Engineers.

I have 2 friends, both engineers and graduates from the top university in Singapore. After graduating from the University, Mr Ng got a good project management job at a large international company; Mr Ho decided to work for a local investment company as the financial sector interests him more.

After 8 years

Mr Ng and Mr Ho took courses to further their financial education together.

Mr Ng for his personal interest.

Mr Ho as part of his job requirement.

Mr Ng started his blog and got into investment on his own on the side.

After making some money, Mr Ng actually wrote a book and published it.

Mr Ho worked for the company but did not really apply his knowledge for his personal investments.

2 Years later

Mr Ng published his book and it was sold at several bookstores. Even the library carried it.

Mr Ng got an offer from Mr Ho’s company and even without any financial experience from his previous job, Mr Ng became the boss of Mr Ho’s manager.

Mr Ho still kept his knowledge to himself and never discussed his work and vast knowledge and experience, hiding his talent.

Mr Ng is now a few levels up the bureaucracy as the vice president of Mr Ho’s department as he showed his knowledge, networked and was very visible with his book.

2 people having the same qualification, relatively the same knowledge, but the end result is much different when you network to show your talents. Getting known really does open doors and create great opportunities. Do not hide your talent and skills.

Brand perception makes 90 percent of the brand.

Twitter: robin_low

Blog: http://blog.unleashyourbranding.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/socialhub

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/robinlow88

Try out social mediaThere is nothing to be afraid of