ptg8286219 Branding Yourself How to Use Social Media to Invent or Reinvent Yourself, Second Edition ERIK DECKERS ptg8286219 KYLE LACY Branding Yourself: How to Use Social Media to Invent or Reinvent Yourself, Editor-in-Chief Second Edition Greg Wiegand Senior Acquisitions Editor Copyright © 2013 by Pearson Education, Inc. Katherine Bull All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, Development Editor photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from Romny French the publisher. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been Managing Editor taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume Kristy Hart no responsibility for errors or omissions. Nor is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. 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For more information, please Rebecca Lieb contact Simon Salt U.S. Corporate and Government Sales 1-800-382-3419 Peter Shankman [email protected] For sales outside of the U.S., please contact International Sales [email protected] TABLE OF CONTENTS I WHY DO I CARE ABOUT SELF-PROMOTION?................ 1 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 ............................................ 7 How to Build Your Brand .................................... 8 The Five Universal Objectives of Personal Branding ........ 10 ptg8286219 Discover Your Passion. (Passion Is Fundamental to Achieving Your Goals.) ................................. 10 Be Bold. (It’s Okay to Talk About Yourself.) ............. 11 Tell Your Story. (Your Story Is What Makes You Special.) ............................................. 13 Create Relationships. (Relationships Lead to Opportunities.) .......................................... 14 Take Action. (Even a Small Step Is a Step Forward.). 15 Who Needs Self-Promotion? .................................. 16 Meet Our Heroes ............................................... 18 2 How Do You Fit in the Mix? ...................................... 21 The Basics of Building Your Personal Brand Story .......... 23 Writing Your Personal Brand Autobiography ............ 23 Prioritizing When Writing Your Personal Brand Story ...................................................... 24 Writing Your Personal Brand Biography ................. 25 How Do Our Heroes Use the Personal Brand Biography? ............................................... 27 iiivvv Branding Yourself Telling Your Complete Brand Story .......................... 30 The Law of Anecdotal Value ............................... 32 Surround Yourself with People Who Have Passion ...... 33 Sharing Memories and Stories ............................. 33 Do’s and Don’ts of Telling Your Story........................ 34 1. Don’t Post Pictures That Would Shock Your Mother 35 2. Don’t View Your Personal Brand Story as a Sales Pitch 35 3. Don’t Post Something You Will Regret Later ......... 35 4. Don’t Ask for Things First. Ask for Things Second .. 36 5. Don’t Get Distracted ................................... 36 6. Don’t Underestimate the Power of Your Network ... 36 7. Do Invest in Yourself .................................... 37 8. Do Invest in Other People .............................. 37 9. Do Be Visible and Active ............................... 37 10. Do Take Some Time for Yourself ..................... 37 ptg8286219 II YOUR NETWORK IS YOUR CASTLE—BUILD IT........... 39 3 Blogging: Telling Your Story ..................................... 41 What Is Blogging? .............................................. 43 A Clarification of Terms ................................... 45 Why Should You Blog? ..................................... 45 Choose Your Blogging Platforms .......................... 47 Blogspot.com/Blogger.com ................................. 48 WordPress.com and WordPress.org ...................... 49 Other Blogging Platforms .................................. 50 Tumblr ....................................................... 52 Which Platform Should You Choose? ........................ 54 Setting Up a Blog ............................................... 54 Purchasing and Hosting a Domain Name ................ 56 Getting Inspired ................................................ 57 What Should You Write About? .............................. 57 Finding Subject Matter ......................................... 60 How to Write a Blog Post ...................................... 60 Writing for Readers Versus Writing for Search Engines .... 62 It’s About the Quality of the Writing ......................... 62 Contents v Google Expects You to Write Good Stuff ..................... 63 How Often Should You Post? ................................. 64 How Long Should Your Posts Be? ............................. 65 But My Posts Are Too Long ................................... 66 SEO Through Blogging. 66 How Does This Apply to Our Four Heroes? ................. 69 Do’s and Don’ts of Blogging ................................... 70 Do’s .......................................................... 70 Don’ts........................................................ 71 A Final Note on the “Rules” of Blogging. 72 4 LinkedIn: Networking on Steroids............................... 73 The Basics of LinkedIn ......................................... 75 What’s in a LinkedIn Profile? .............................. 75 The Employment Section .................................. 75 ptg8286219 Your Photo/Avatar ......................................... 77 The Education Section. 77 The Summary ............................................... 77 Your Websites ............................................... 78 Cool LinkedIn Features Worth Examining ............... 79 Creating Contacts on LinkedIn ............................ 81 Using Your Email Database ................................ 82 Other Ways to Connect: Colleagues and Classmates .... 83 Building Off Your Second- and Third-Degree Network . 84 Transforming Your Contacts into Connections .......... 85 The Importance of Recommendations .................... 87 Ten Do’s and Don’ts of LinkedIn ............................. 90 1. Do Upload a Professional Picture ..................... 90 2. Do Connect to Your Real Friends and Contacts ..... 91 3. Do Keep Your Profile Current ......................... 91 4. Do Delete People Who Spam You ..................... 91 5. Do Spend Some Time on Your Summary ............ 92 6. Don’t Use LinkedIn Like Facebook and Twitter ..... 92 7. Don’t Sync LinkedIn with Twitter ..................... 92 8. Don’t Decline Invitations. Archive Them. 92 vvviii Branding Yourself 9. Don’t Ask Everyone for Recommendations ......... 93 10. Don’t Forget to Use Spelling and Grammar Check ...................................... 93 5 Twitter: Sharing in the Conversation ........................... 95 Why Should You Use Twitter? ................................ 96 What Can Twitter Do for You? ................................ 97 How Do You Use Twitter? ..................................... 99 Creating a Twitter Profile .................................. 99 Getting Followers .......................................... 100 Sending Out Tweets ....................................... 101 Retweeting Your Content ................................. 102 Applications for Twitter Domination ........................ 104 Desktop Applications .....................................