Claim Your Personal Brand Online
Facebook and Linked In can be a way to build relationships and help people get to know, like, and trust you. Paul Travis from Marketing 2020 describes some ways that you can claim your personal brand on the main social networks.
I don’t normally “tweet” about a new feature in a given company’s product or service. But I know how much our “collateral” affects our personal brand!
For example, when I meet someone whose business card says “Get YOUR free business cards at VistaPrint.com”, I take them less seriously. Business cards ARE your “leave-behind”, and have such impact on making and supporting the first impression you’ve made — that it makes no sense to skimp here.
Same goes if I read the email address on the card is “SmithFamily@comcast.net”. It is so inexpensive these days to get your own domain name (I have one for my family as well as multiple business domains) and forward your email that it absolutely makes sense. Your domain registrar will understand this, even if you don’t.
Similarly, if you are on LinkedIn, I highly recommend that you get a personal link. That way, whether you refer to it in your email signature — or more likely, people point to your LI public profile when making an introduction — it shows as
http://www.linkedin.com/in/paultravis
rather than something like
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/ptravis/2/3b/241.
FaceBook just implemented usernames as well (last night!) So especially if you are an occasional FB user, I recommend you take a moment to see if your proper name or favorite nickname is available.
It’s all about taking the time to plan (and then execute) that thing many people struggle with — your personal brand.
Survey: Most Small Businesses Don’t Plan to Cut Social Media
by Charles Sipe
While advertising spending may be down for most traditional media, there is one media that is not being cut. According to a survey conducted in December 2008 by Ad-ology Research, 25% of small businesses stated they planned to increase spending on social media and 33% said they would spend the same amount in 2009.
This data suggests that social media will continue to grow in 2009 and we have certainly seen growth in Facebook and Twitter.This also shows the value that people see in social media marketing. Usually it only costs time to interact and build relationships with customers through social media. For instance Zappos has used Twitter to gain the attention of over 31,000 followers. Think of how valuable it is to get 30,000 followers to voluntarily give you their attention and for Zappos, it costs next to nothing to update their Twitter feed. Their marketing messages are sent instantly to interested and engaged consumers, many who receive Twitter messages directly to their mobile devices.
Another useful source for social media marketing is LinkedIn where you can find potential prospects and build relationships. Facebook has many marketing applications from targeted banner ads, to fan groups that empower evangelists to spread their enthusiasm about your product or service.
At time of economic crisis, companies big and small will look for highly efficient and trackable means of marketing their company, and that is likely to mean growth in social media marketing.
