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 “Perfect for Wedding Photographers” is the quote that killed my interest in Animoto Pro. My creative director had sent me a note about Animoto a couple of weeks back. I next saw it advertised on the Mashable Tech site last Sunday night, because I was trying to figure out how to teach Siri to tweet without my lisp on the new iPhone 4S.
Of course I should have been sleeping, because I was wrung dry from teaching a solid two days at my personal branding bootcamp for UCLA extension. But, what does a social media expert do without any time off? Look for something new and difficult to do on social media, of course. Hence my near delirious consideration of hacking my phone or engaging in some off label workaround to save time spitting out 140 characters or less as often as possible.
The ad for Animoto Pro reminded me of so many ways that small businesses kill off their own brands. That is, they take – or make – any testimonials to add credibility in a naive effort attract new buyers.
Most people don’t know this: not all good feedback is worth announcing in an ad, or on your website, or even accepting for your LinkedIn profile. That’s true even when the feedback contains golden words like “perfect.”
Your business or high dollar consumer prospects aren’t looking for just any supplier. They are looking for trustworthy, high value, low risk providers. Hence, who’s doing the recommending matters, even though “opinion” sites try to say it ain’t so.
“It’s all about personal sources” is the mantra that Yelp, Angies List, and the other faux-neighbor sites are using to successfully upsell ad programs to local businesses. These sites aggregate supposedly highly influential ratings and comments. I think the underlying principle of relying on what neighbor-strangers bother to type in is a shaky way to make your consumer choices much less bigger business ones. It may just be my luck, but I’ve gotten sick on Chinese food and now work on a bowed hardwood floor, because I used those recommendations.
Nonetheless, we marketers continue to espouse that personal sources, or barring that possibility, at least human sources lead prospects to your door or landing page. Hence the cash machines that are social media sites, review sites, or other comment aggregators.
That said, “perfect” recommendations from a less than perfect source is bound to #epicfail when your target buyers are from a larger, better class.
The idea that a wedding photographer, arguably the least demanding, critical and professional of nearly everyone who wields a camera for pay, thinks Animoto Pro is perfect? Perhaps that’s meant to impress high school yearbook photographers? Or the guy who sells soccer photos on picture day?
The recommendation does not impress media and marketing professionals, because for us, photography is a part of strategic campaigns, not a memorial of love for those who have only just begun, or grandparents proudly wearing that big button featuring their favorite five year old.
I know I am unfairly picking on Animoto Pro, its advertising agency, and it media buying firm. That’s the problem with being in business; we have to spend money heartlessly. That would also be known as responsibly.
And before you jump on the comments to say that wedding photographers have a tough job and are often elite professionals, may I call your attention to Adam Sandler’s career. It wasn’t for the effect of high art and drama that he starred in The Wedding Singer. We wouldn’t have laughed if that movie were a biopic of Pavarotti, famously not a wedding singer.
Beware of kind words and use them judiciously.
More from Nance…
You can find Nance on
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  When you accept yourself with all of your flaws and unique talents, the world seems to become a more accommodating place. You’ll find that some of the causes of your stress disappear and you can gain more joy on a daily basis.
Accepting yourself completely entails courage, wisdom and compassion. If you’re plagued by negative emotions such as anxiety, jealousy, shame, anger, envy, or guilt, these may be signs of low self-esteem. To counter this, you can learn radical self-acceptance.
If you find yourself equating your worth with your achievements, love life or social status, what happens if these are someday diminished? After all, these are temporary conditions. [Read More...]
 
 Why Personal Branding?
We were all taught that a firm handshake, professional attire and a strong resume were the necessary pillars of a good first impression, right? Well today that is no longer enough. With the advent of social media, making an unforgettable first impression in-person is no longer the only thing you need to worry about.
From Twitter to Facebook to Google, our personal brands are in the spotlight everyday for everyone to see online. Are you putting your best foot forward? Are you making the impression you want? This has spawned a new set of ideas and tactics known as Personal Branding.
This article will walk you through the basics of personal branding as well as some of the best tips and practices.
What is Personal Branding?
”Personal branding is how we define ourselves in the work space while at the same time, incorporating the personal elements that make us who we are.” – Dawn Rasmussen Personal Branding is the process of determining your most important core attributes and communicating them consistently across every possible medium. “What is it that you want to be known for? Personal branding is how we define ourselves in the work space while at the same time, incorporating the personal elements that make us who we are” said Dawn Rasmussen, President of the Portland, Oregon based Pathfinder Writing and Career Services.
1) Personal Branding DO’s
- Define Your Brand: Take the time to soul search and determine exactly who you are and what makes up your personal brand. See our 10 steps to define your unique personal brand for help.
- Communicate Your Brand: Make sure you are effectively able to communicate that brand clearly and concisely. A concise personal bio is essential for this step. For help with your bio, read our personal branding guide to writing a professional bio.
- Start Building Your Online Presence: You’re being Googled. By employers, by colleagues and even first dates. Building a basic online presence that can promote your image and support your personal brand is therefore essential. For more on this step, stay tuned next week for the second part of our “Make Search Engines Your B**ch” series titled “Build a basic online presence for Google.”
- Become Visible: You want to make sure your branded content is what people find when they Google your name. This can be a difficult feat unless you are well versed in search engine optimization, however, the 4th article in our ”Make Search engines your b**ch” series will be highlighting some advanced tactics to control your Google results.
2) Personal Branding DO NOT’s
- Fabricate or Exaggerate: Personal branding is not a means to lie about your qualifications and doing so will absolutely hurt you in the long run.
- Leave Out the PERSONAL Aspect: As much as people want to hear about your professional accomplishments- they also want to understand your personality. Don’t be afraid to inject your sense of humor, your hobbies, interests, etc… the things that make you, you.
- Have ANY Inconsistencies: Your core message (as it is outlined in your personal bio) should be communicated the same in every medium, especially online. That means using similar wording across all of your online accounts, the same headshot everywhere and the same avatar.
Now that you know the do’s and do not’s regarding personal branding, let’s take a look at why you should actually care about personal branding!
Why Should You Care About Personal Branding?
1) Personal Branding Can Help Your Career:
Personal branding is necessary for any professional – but let’s look at job applicants as an example:
Job applicants: if you think that the first time you’re meeting a recruiter or potential employer is during an interview then you need to think again. You two have met before, in the online world. Recruiters are turning away from more traditional methods and searching for applicants through social media and search engines. One of the biggest mistakes that a job candidate can make is having an inconsistent personal brand. Many people think as long as they don’t have negative content, they are in the clear. However, recruiters are looking for a postive, consistent brand that they believe lines up with their company culture.
“Recruiters are hired to eliminate candidates from the pool,” said Joshua Waldman, Job Searching with Social Media For Dummies author and Career Enlightenment blog creator. “This means they are not only trained to find red flags, if your personal brand is inconsistent, that’s the surest way to the maybe pile. So thinking about your branding message BEFORE filling out social media profiles is extremely important.” In short, have a strong brand online and you will stand out from the competition.
2) Personal Branding Can RUIN Your Career
It goes without saying that a negative brand can hurt you. However, most people don’t appreciate how easy it is to end up with a bad brand!
Everything you do or say on the web represents you. “What goes onto Facebook is on there forever,” said Rasmussen. “You need to make self-aware decisions of what you put online impacts your personal brand and reputation immediately and irrevocably… so the key is to be cautious, consistent, and conservative.” Rasmussen also stressed the importance of not posting anything online that you would be ashamed of if a prospective employer saw it. Even though they might never see it, why take the risk?
One great (and kind of hilarious) example occurred over the summer of 2009 when an employee went on a rant and called her boss a… well why don’t you find out for yourself. Not exactly the smartest way to use your social networks- but thanks for the laugh on your behalf!
Conclusion
One thing is clear: your online reputation is just as important as your off-line reputation. While having a negative personal brand will hurt you, taking the time to build a positive, consistent brand on the web will actually help you!
Now that you’ve read the information, can you answer the question what is personal branding? Or more specifically, what is personal branding TO YOU? Please leave any comments or tips below- and if you have any questions feel free to send me an email. Now get out there and control your brand!
The Online Reputation Checklist
You have seven seconds to make a first impression, and your time starts the moment your name is typed into a search bar. To put this in perspective, 80 million names are Googled daily, 77% of employers do a Google pre-screen on applicants, and 35% of these employers eliminate candidates based on negative content.
This new step in the hiring process can spell trouble for applicants, but follow our checklist below and you can turn this threat into a huge opportunity!
What do you find? Almost everyone falls into three troubling categories that our checklist will remedy:
- Negative Content: An unnoticed tagged photo, a post by a disgruntled ex-colleague or spouse, or even an impulsive 4 a.m. tweet can spell disaster for your online reputation, and your job search. With the right strategy you can replace undesirable content with positive results, pushing the negative stuff out of sight.
- Low-ranking content: What good is your LinkedIn profile or personal website if potential employers cant see it? Many people work hard to create a positive online presence, but when you Google their name, none of it shows up. This makes employers think that you are inexperienced or unimpressive, you’ve just missed a huge opportunity to stand out in a very crowded job market.
- No content at all: If you have nothing about you on the web, employers will assume that you’re irrelevant and inexperienced. Continue with the checklist to quickly create positive, visible results.
This is a crucial first step because a domain name is the first thing that Google considers when it ranks search results. Purchasing from services like Godaddy or Register.com is a cheap and easy way to own your domain. If someone else already has your name, try using your middle initial or purchasing a .net or .org (the two best ranking extensions behind “.com”)
“Blogging is a great way to keep up in your industry, network without looking desperate, and leverage the fact that you have more time on your hands than people who have jobs.” Penelope TrunkA personal website or blog is the central hub for your entire online reputation. This is the perfect place to paint a picture of yourself that tells so much more than the generic bullet points on your resume. People make hires when they have a feeling that the candidate will fit in with the company culture, so while a resume and professional bio are a must on your website, also feel free to include other information that illustrates who you are as an individual.
One good way to show your value and relevancy as a candidate is by blogging. With a blog you can show your expertise in the industry, while also giving employers a better feel for who you are as an individual, since your voice and personality will come through in your writing.
If you don’t have a personal website yet, here are some great, free site builders that tend to rank high in search engines:
-
Create Professional Networking Profiles
You probably already use social networks, but they might not be working to your advantage professionally. Amber Rinehard, Global Community Manager at Text 100, provided the following practical ideas for professional social networking success:
- Use Your Facebook Privacy Settings (!!): Your potential employers went to college once too, so they know what type of antics go down – but that doesn’t mean they want to see it! Make sure your Facebook photos are set to private, or better yet- don’t let people take incriminating photos of you in the first place.
- Tweet Responsibly: Take a look at your Twitter stream ask yourself, what would an employer think if he or she read my updates? Even if you use Twitter for personal versus professional reasons, it’s important to come off as professional and relevant- and yes, employers look at your spelling and grammar. Jump into relevant industry conversations by participating in a tweet chat or strike up a conversation with influencers in your industry via @ reply.
- Build a Complete LinkedIn Profile: Even if you don’t have a ton of experience yet, employers will see that you take your professional opportunities seriously. Ask your professors, peers, or former employers to provide recommendations for your profile.
-
Register with High-Ranking Directories:
Services like BigSight, Zerply, and BusinessCard2.com are the “yellow pages” of the Internet. They will help those Googling you find you more easily because your results will rank higher, and they only take a few seconds to set up. (IMPORTANT: be sure to link from these directories to your most relevant content online such as your personal website.)
-
Boost Your Info to the Top of Search Engines
By following this checklist you can ensure you exist in all the right places online, but what good is all this content if employers cant find it when they search for you? In our follow up post we are going to show you how to actually boost those profiles to the top of search engines. In the meantime, check out this great beginners’ guide to Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
If you have anything to add to the online rep checklist, please feel free to let me know in the comments section below.
By Chelsea Wagner, Blogging Intern at BrandYourself
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“Perfect for Wedding Photographers” is the quote that killed my interest in Animoto Pro. My creative director had sent me a note about Animoto a couple of weeks back. I next saw it advertised on the Mashable Tech site last Sunday night, because I was trying to figure out how to teach Siri to tweet without my lisp on the new iPhone 4S.
Of course I should have been sleeping, because I was wrung dry from teaching a solid two days at my personal branding bootcamp for UCLA extension. But, what does a social media expert do without any time off? Look for something new and difficult to do on social media, of course. Hence my near delirious consideration of hacking my phone or engaging in some off label workaround to save time spitting out 140 characters or less as often as possible.
The ad for Animoto Pro reminded me of so many ways that small businesses kill off their own brands. That is, they take – or make – any testimonials to add credibility in a naive effort attract new buyers.
Most people don’t know this: not all good feedback is worth announcing in an ad, or on your website, or even accepting for your LinkedIn profile. That’s true even when the feedback contains golden words like “perfect.”
Your business or high dollar consumer prospects aren’t looking for just any supplier. They are looking for trustworthy, high value, low risk providers. Hence, who’s doing the recommending matters, even though “opinion” sites try to say it ain’t so.
“It’s all about personal sources” is the mantra that Yelp, Angies List, and the other faux-neighbor sites are using to successfully upsell ad programs to local businesses. These sites aggregate supposedly highly influential ratings and comments. I think the underlying principle of relying on what neighbor-strangers bother to type in is a shaky way to make your consumer choices much less bigger business ones. It may just be my luck, but I’ve gotten sick on Chinese food and now work on a bowed hardwood floor, because I used those recommendations.
Nonetheless, we marketers continue to espouse that personal sources, or barring that possibility, at least human sources lead prospects to your door or landing page. Hence the cash machines that are social media sites, review sites, or other comment aggregators.
That said, “perfect” recommendations from a less than perfect source is bound to #epicfail when your target buyers are from a larger, better class.
The idea that a wedding photographer, arguably the least demanding, critical and professional of nearly everyone who wields a camera for pay, thinks Animoto Pro is perfect? Perhaps that’s meant to impress high school yearbook photographers? Or the guy who sells soccer photos on picture day?
The recommendation does not impress media and marketing professionals, because for us, photography is a part of strategic campaigns, not a memorial of love for those who have only just begun, or grandparents proudly wearing that big button featuring their favorite five year old.
I know I am unfairly picking on Animoto Pro, its advertising agency, and it media buying firm. That’s the problem with being in business; we have to spend money heartlessly. That would also be known as responsibly.
And before you jump on the comments to say that wedding photographers have a tough job and are often elite professionals, may I call your attention to Adam Sandler’s career. It wasn’t for the effect of high art and drama that he starred in The Wedding Singer. We wouldn’t have laughed if that movie were a biopic of Pavarotti, famously not a wedding singer.
Beware of kind words and use them judiciously.
More from Nance…
You can find Nance on
Facebook
LinkedIn
Twitter
  There are many avenues to explore when it comes to discovering your life purpose. Unfortunately, though, nobody else can find it for you. Since your life purpose is unique from anyone else’s, it’s a mission that you – and only you – can complete.
In your quest for passion, concentrate on enjoying the journey itself. Sometimes when you stop stressing about your life’s purpose, it falls into your lap!
Here are some ways you can discover your life purpose:
Write about how you feel. Try journaling with a pen and paper, or grab your laptop and just start writing. Write about how you truly feel and what you want out of life. Remember that [Read More...]
Trevor Elwell recently released this post on Social Media Today. This article will provide you with the knowledge that you need to get your Facebook profile to rank on the first page of Google for your name, Enjoy!
Facebook and Google are Friends?
Since your Facebook profile has so much personal information about you, it’s probably best for you to hide it away in a corner of the Internet where no potential employer, customer, or date can find it right? Wrong. You can use Facebook and Google to make yourself more marketable if you use them in the right ways. Exposing and publicizing your Facebook allows you to show a more personal side to your employers, seem more well rounded, and prove that you aren’t hiding anything from them. Best of all, Facebook profiles are perfect pieces of content to easily boost up to the top of Google- a great way to bolster your online reputation. So let’s get started:
Step One: Clean Up Your Profile
Let’s face it, your Facebook profile isn’t exactly the cleanest thing in the world (as in, it doesn’t exactly put you in the best light)- you’re going to have to do a little work to get it up to snuff. Go ahead and remove those harming pictures, curse-word-filled status updates, and videos of you at 5AM signing “Small Town Girl”. Trust me, these are necessary measures on your quest to conquer Facebook and Google.
Step Two: Change Your Privacy Settings to Public
If your friends can’t find you, how can search engines? It’s very simple to go into your Facebook settings and make your profile “Public”. You are still able to restrict access to some of your content, but in order for a search engine like Google to find and rank your profile you need to make it available to the public.
Step Three: Use Your Actual Name
Do your buddies call you “T-Smooth” or Dave “Danger” Lewis? Even though your nickname is probably awesome, it should stay between you and your friends and shouldn’t make it’s way onto the Internet. Using your real name on social networks like Facebook allows potential employers, customers, and even dates to easily find you when they search for you on Facebook and Google. Your nickname may give you and your friends a few laughs but everyone else won’t be in on the joke and might not be able to find you. With this step, make sure you keep your name consistent as well! Even though Trevor Elwell and Trevor R. Elwell are very similar, in the eyes of search engines they are very different- use the name that people will be searching for you with.
Step Four: Don’t Forget Your Vanity URL
A simple way to boost up your Facebook page on Google is to get your vanity URL. If you go to your account settings you will easily be able to change this. A vanity URL is a URL with your name in it (for instance facebook.com/AboutTrevorElwell) . If “Facebook.com/YourName” isn’t available then make sure that you use some variation of it like I did. The important thing is keeping your name in the URL and in the same order (as in nothing in between your first and last name). This is probably the single most powerful way to get your Facebook page to rank on Google.
Step Five: Links!
You have a Twitter and a LinkedIn on top of your Facebook and Google profiles, but are you linking between your profiles? Google loves to see inbound links- and a very easy way to get them is to utilize the profiles that you already have set up! Link to your now-public Facebook profile from all of your other social networks and make sure to include your name in the link text (for instance “Trevor Elwell on Facebook“ would be a good link but “Trevor Elwell on Facebook“ would not).
There you have it ladies and gentlemen, all the tips that you need to get your Facebook profile to the top of search results. If you have any more ideas please feel free to let me know in the comments section below, good luck!
 Bonus #1 – 5 Ways to Turn Around Self Doubt
Do you struggle with self-doubt? Perhaps you often wonder if you’ve made the right decision or have only a faint hope that your next job interview, project, or even date will turn out well. The most unfortunate thing about self-doubt is that your fears often become self-fulfilling prophecies.
On the other hand, when you take action to become more confident in yourself, more things in your life automatically turn out better as well. With more self-confidence, your decision-making skills are strengthened, others are drawn to you in social situations, you produce higher quality work, and you’re more able to create the life you desire.
Try these strategies to [Read More...]
“Perfect for Wedding Photographers” is the quote that killed my interest in Animoto Pro. My creative director had sent me a note about Animoto a couple of weeks back. I next saw it advertised on the Mashable Tech site last Sunday night, because I was trying to figure out how to teach Siri to tweet without my lisp on the new iPhone 4S.
Of course I should have been sleeping, because I was wrung dry from teaching a solid two days at my personal branding bootcamp for UCLA extension. But, what does a social media expert do without any time off? Look for something new and difficult to do on social media, of course. Hence my near delirious consideration of hacking my phone or engaging in some off label workaround to save time spitting out 140 characters or less as often as possible.
The ad for Animoto Pro reminded me of so many ways that small businesses kill off their own brands. That is, they take – or make – any testimonials to add credibility in a naive effort attract new buyers.
Most people don’t know this: not all good feedback is worth announcing in an ad, or on your website, or even accepting for your LinkedIn profile. That’s true even when the feedback contains golden words like “perfect.”
Your business or high dollar consumer prospects aren’t looking for just any supplier. They are looking for trustworthy, high value, low risk providers. Hence, who’s doing the recommending matters, even though “opinion” sites try to say it ain’t so.
“It’s all about personal sources” is the mantra that Yelp, Angies List, and the other faux-neighbor sites are using to successfully upsell ad programs to local businesses. These sites aggregate supposedly highly influential ratings and comments. I think the underlying principle of relying on what neighbor-strangers bother to type in is a shaky way to make your consumer choices much less bigger business ones. It may just be my luck, but I’ve gotten sick on Chinese food and now work on a bowed hardwood floor, because I used those recommendations.
Nonetheless, we marketers continue to espouse that personal sources, or barring that possibility, at least human sources lead prospects to your door or landing page. Hence the cash machines that are social media sites, review sites, or other comment aggregators.
That said, “perfect” recommendations from a less than perfect source is bound to #epicfail when your target buyers are from a larger, better class.
The idea that a wedding photographer, arguably the least demanding, critical and professional of nearly everyone who wields a camera for pay, thinks Animoto Pro is perfect? Perhaps that’s meant to impress high school yearbook photographers? Or the guy who sells soccer photos on picture day?
The recommendation does not impress media and marketing professionals, because for us, photography is a part of strategic campaigns, not a memorial of love for those who have only just begun, or grandparents proudly wearing that big button featuring their favorite five year old.
I know I am unfairly picking on Animoto Pro, its advertising agency, and it media buying firm. That’s the problem with being in business; we have to spend money heartlessly. That would also be known as responsibly.
And before you jump on the comments to say that wedding photographers have a tough job and are often elite professionals, may I call your attention to Adam Sandler’s career. It wasn’t for the effect of high art and drama that he starred in The Wedding Singer. We wouldn’t have laughed if that movie were a biopic of Pavarotti, famously not a wedding singer.
Beware of kind words and use them judiciously.
More from Nance…
You can find Nance on
Facebook
LinkedIn
Twitter
 Let’s face it- your children are going to be on the Internet whether you want them to be or not. Unfortunately, there are a lot of bad things out on the Internet that children can get caught up in fairly easily. In our series on having “the talk” with your children we’re going to begin with one of the most important things that you can teach your children about the Internet: privacy and safety. The “bad guys” on the Internet are going to have a much harder time targeting your children if they follow some simple privacy guidelines.
We will also talk about “Safe Sharing” to help your kids avoid posting something online as youngsters that can effect their online reputation for the rest of their life. So without further adieu, let’s get started describing the problem.
How To Spot a Creeper
“OMG did Melanie just friend you? She’s so cool- she loves Selena Gomez almost as much as I do!” Melanie sounds like a cool girl, except for the fact that Melanie is actually a 57 year-old man from Omaha Nebraska. You see, it’s pretty easy to make a new profile on any social network including Facebook and Twitter. It’s even easier to input false information into the site as well. The problem is, children don’t always know how to spot the tell-tale signs that someone is not who they say they are and could end up talking to someone who they probably shouldn’t. Here are some easy ways to spot a false account:
All Friends No Followers
Does the person who just followed you on Twitter follow 10,000 other people and only have 2 people following them? Does the person who just friended you on Facebook have one friend and nothing written on their wall? If you answered yes to either of these questions then you most likely have a stalker (or a very poor brand) on your hands. What they tend to do is create a profile and send out a lot of “feelers” to see who will bite. If your son or daughter friends them back, it’s a signal to the weirdo that they don’t know much about online privacy and they can exploit them. Explain that it’s best to stay away from these types.
No Profile Information
Most people input at least a little bit of profile information when they create an account on social networks, this way they can find people that they’re friends with in those networks. When a creeper creates a social profile they tend to leave out a whole lot of information because, well, they don’t have actual information. Make sure your kids are on the lookout for profiles that skimp in the information department.
Lots of Links
Did the last five things that this person sent out include a link to a website to win a free iPad? In case you couldn’t figure this on out yourself: profiles that share links int his manner are probably just trying to spam people and aren’t actual people. Even though this person most likely isn’t going to be stalking your children, giving up information to these characters can easily result in your child’s or your profile being targeted by other scams or crazies.
Chat Rooms and Forums
Even though programs like AIM have dropped in popularity in recent years, it’s important that your child knows how to safely navigate through the various new chat rooms that have recently emerged. The basic rules go a little bit like this: if your child is below the high school years they probably shouldn’t be on chat rooms that utilize video (See Chatroulette’s Penis Problem) because they are a hotbed for creepers of all walks of life. For other chat rooms that allow simple text-chatting it’s pretty easy to follow this one rule: if you know who you’re chatting with then feel free to act normally, otherwise (if you don’t know the person) then use a filter. By “use a filter” I mean that you shouldn’t give any any personal information and think carefully about what information you’re sharing in your discussion.
Even though chat rooms aren’t as popular as they once were, it’s still important that you know the problems that are associated with them.
Privacy Settings/Sharing Personal Info
A big problem with children on social networks is that they don’t always know who they should friend/follow and who they should ignore. This goes hand-in-hand with the fact that children also don’t usually know how much information is “too much information” when it comes to social networks. The equation is pretty standard: TMI + Bad Followers = Potential Disaster.
Make sure that your kids know that there is some information that they can tell to their friends (where your going after school, your phone #, etc.) and that this information should not be shared in a public fashion. As a parent, you should probably dictate what information you’re comfortable with your children sharing and what information they should leave out of the picture. Luckily most social networks let you control who sees the information you put out, and even give you the ability to share different information depending on how close you are with certain groups of friends or family. Go through the Twitter privacy settings and read Mashable’s Facebook Privacy Guide with your child and help them understand why they should utilize these privacy settings and why they’re important.
Having The Talk
Now that you know the information, the fun part is actually sitting down and having the conversation with your child. It’s important that they know you aren’t telling them to stay off of social media, but rather that you’re encouraging them to do so in a safe way. Here are the key takeaways from this article:
- Only Friend Friends: A good rule of thumb is that if they aren’t friends with them in real life, then they probably shouldn’t be friends with them online.
- Become The Expert: If you don’t already have accounts on prominent social networks then get one with your child! (You’ll both be learning and you can monitor as well)
- Monitor Privacy Settings: Make sure your kid’s privacy settings are properly configured on all of their social networks (read Twitter’s privacy settings and Mashable’s Facebook Privacy Guide).
- Know The Enemy: Know how to spot a creeper and make sure your children do as well.
- The Chatroulette Effect: Video chat rooms and children do not mix.
- Be Open: Let your children know how much personal information you’re comfortable with them sharing online (and with whom)
In sum, the best policy when it comes to these things is to be honest with your children. Don’t be afraid to tell them that what they say on these social networks can stay with them for the rest of their lives- you don’t want them to tarnish their online reputation before they even know that they have one. Good luck, and if you have any more tips or advice for us please let us know in the comments section below.
Stay tuned for our future How To Have “The Talk” articles- We’ll be talking about Sharing/Etiquette, Cyber Bullying, and How to Control Your Online Reputation.
“Perfect for Wedding Photographers” is the quote that killed my interest in Animoto Pro. My creative director had sent me a note about Animoto a couple of weeks back. I next saw it advertised on the Mashable Tech site last Sunday night, because I was trying to figure out how to teach Siri to tweet without my lisp on the new iPhone 4S.
Of course I should have been sleeping, because I was wrung dry from teaching a solid two days at my personal branding bootcamp for UCLA extension. But, what does a social media expert do without any time off? Look for something new and difficult to do on social media, of course. Hence my near delirious consideration of hacking my phone or engaging in some off label workaround to save time spitting out 140 characters or less as often as possible.
The ad for Animoto Pro reminded me of so many ways that small businesses kill off their own brands. That is, they take – or make – any testimonials to add credibility in a naive effort attract new buyers.
Most people don’t know this: not all good feedback is worth announcing in an ad, or on your website, or even accepting for your LinkedIn profile. That’s true even when the feedback contains golden words like “perfect.”
Your business or high dollar consumer prospects aren’t looking for just any supplier. They are looking for trustworthy, high value, low risk providers. Hence, who’s doing the recommending matters, even though “opinion” sites try to say it ain’t so.
“It’s all about personal sources” is the mantra that Yelp, Angies List, and the other faux-neighbor sites are using to successfully upsell ad programs to local businesses. These sites aggregate supposedly highly influential ratings and comments. I think the underlying principle of relying on what neighbor-strangers bother to type in is a shaky way to make your consumer choices much less bigger business ones. It may just be my luck, but I’ve gotten sick on Chinese food and now work on a bowed hardwood floor, because I used those recommendations.
Nonetheless, we marketers continue to espouse that personal sources, or barring that possibility, at least human sources lead prospects to your door or landing page. Hence the cash machines that are social media sites, review sites, or other comment aggregators.
That said, “perfect” recommendations from a less than perfect source is bound to #epicfail when your target buyers are from a larger, better class.
The idea that a wedding photographer, arguably the least demanding, critical and professional of nearly everyone who wields a camera for pay, thinks Animoto Pro is perfect? Perhaps that’s meant to impress high school yearbook photographers? Or the guy who sells soccer photos on picture day?
The recommendation does not impress media and marketing professionals, because for us, photography is a part of strategic campaigns, not a memorial of love for those who have only just begun, or grandparents proudly wearing that big button featuring their favorite five year old.
I know I am unfairly picking on Animoto Pro, its advertising agency, and it media buying firm. That’s the problem with being in business; we have to spend money heartlessly. That would also be known as responsibly.
And before you jump on the comments to say that wedding photographers have a tough job and are often elite professionals, may I call your attention to Adam Sandler’s career. It wasn’t for the effect of high art and drama that he starred in The Wedding Singer. We wouldn’t have laughed if that movie were a biopic of Pavarotti, famously not a wedding singer.
Beware of kind words and use them judiciously.
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 Google Yourself
It takes literally one minute to go to Google, type in your name, and Google yourself. But the real question remains: why would you want to do this? What is in it for you and why should you take time out of your day to go and search for yourself on Google?
Wouldn’t you like to know if someone who shares your name has done something negative? How about if someone that you’ve done business with in the past (or maybe a crazy ex-boyfriend or girlfriend) has written something negative about you online? Don’t you think that you should know about this potentially negative content and how it could affect you?
It’s good to know the statistics too, in a recent study:
- 77% of potential employers used search engines like Google to screen their candidates
- 35% of these employers eliminated a candidate from consideration based on information they found online
This should open your eyes up a little bit to the potential implications that irrelevant or negative content can have on your future. Let’s perform a real-time analysis using my own name as an example.
Why You Should Google Yourself
Go to Google, type in Trevor Elwell, and analyze what you see. For me, I see my personal website, my BrandYourself page, Twitter account, an article I wrote on Social Media Today, and a blog about Ethical Surrogacy. Wait, Ethical Surrogacy- why is that on there?! Well it turns out that there is another person named Trevor Elwell who lives in Australia, he and his partner were the first couple to have a child from an Indian surrogate mother. Now, even though this blog is not about me it’s important that I know that it’s out there. I am in the process of pushing down this particular blog for my name, but since it’s up there at the moment it’s important that I am aware of it and am able to respond to any questions that might arise from it such as, “So you have a kid” or “I didn’t know you were from Australia”.
Since I know the irrelevant information that’s out there, I’m able to better understand my own online reputation and respond accordingly. These are things that you would never know if you didn’t Google yourself to observe how your personal brand is thriving (or dying) in the online ecosystem.
What Happens if You Don’t Google Yourself
Just like you wouldn’t go into an interview without doing some research on the company that you hope will hire you, you shouldn’t go into any professional situation without knowing what information the other person is likely to have seen about you. Even though it could be pretty harmless information like that which shows up when my name is searched (not too many people have confused me for my Australian name-partner) there is definitely the potential for bad situations to occur. Our very own founder Pete Kistler was confused for a criminal while he was looking for jobs (which obviously resulted in a few very interesting interviews).
If you don’t Google yourself then you are not preparing yourself adequately for any form of professional meeting. The best strategy to protect yourself from negative and irrelevant information is always to create positive content that is more optimized for your name than other content. But since this process takes some time to complete, you should see what else is out there about your name and prepare yourself to answer questions about it just in case it gets brought up.
 Today we wanted to provide a list of people to follow that provide great information on living an independent lifestyle by running an online business and building out your online reputation. This list includes people of a wide variety, but you’ll find one common thread: all of these people created, nourished and leveraged their personal brand and online reputation in order to live the lives they wanted to live, on their own terms. Whether you want to run your own business, work on a tropical island from your laptop or make a little passive income, it all comes down to building a brand and making others hear, understand and relate to your message. With that said, heres the list, prepare to be inspired!
Sean Ogle (@seanogle):
His story: “In 2009 my life sucked. So I quit my job, moved to Thailand, built a business, and started living life the way I’d always wanted. Location 180 documents the journey and teaches you how to do the same thing.”
His Blog: Location 180
Why he Rocks: Sean isn’t just one of those “Hey look at me! My life is awesome. I travel all over the world and make money while doing it. Now go feel bad for yourself while i live it up!” kind of guys. Instead he provides a storybook of his travels on his blog and advice on how you can live independently too by running a location independent online business. His business is his personalbrand, and hes leveraged his online reputation to live an awesome life and help others do the same.
 Tim Ferriss (@tferriss):
His Story: Tim Ferris is kind of a big deal. He wrote the #1 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and BusinessWeek bestseller, The 4-Hour Workweek and the NYT bestseller The 4-Hour Body.
His Blog: Experiments in Lifestyle Design
Why He Rocks: Tim Ferris wrote The 4-Hour Work week with one premise in mind: outsource the stuff you dont want to do in your life so that you have more time to do the stuff you do want to do. With some of his practical advice you can live life on your own terms as well.
 Maren Kate (@marenkate)
Her Story: Maren Kate is a good follow-up to Tim Ferris because in addition to providing great info on her blog about becoming self made she also started a virtual assistant company called Zirtual which helps busy people find virtual staff and virtual assistants. It’s the Match.com of finding virtual staff.
Why She Rocks: She runs a blog with great lifestyle design tips and started a company to help people actually act on that advice. She’s the Yin and yang of lifestyle design.
 A shley Ambirge (@TMFproject):
Her Story: I’ll steal a line from her bio: “Hey, I’m Ash, and I started The Middle Finger Project back in October of ’09 as a way to serve up devilishly good insights on how to start, run and rock your small business using the internet…so you can stop trading hours for dollars, work better, and attain a higher quality of life.”
Her Blog: The Middle Finger Project
Why She Rocks: Ash serves up great content for making your online business flourish, she’s also funny and sassy as hell while doing it. Her blog is always a fun read and its packed full of useful information that makes you want to say F**k it, im going to start doing ME (and make money while doing it.)
So there it is, a list of some inspirational people with some realistic advice on taking the reins and living an independent lifestyle. All of these people have their own way of doing things, their own mottos, their own philosophies, their own style, but they were all able to become happy and successful by creating a personal brand online that others could connect with and relate to. That’s what we’re all about here at BrandYourself, empowering people to own their online presence and achieve their goals, whatever they may be. So hats off to these rockstars, keep up the great work.
Today we wanted to provide a list of people to follow that provide great information on living an independent lifestyle by running an online business and building out your online reputation. This list includes people of a wide variety, but you’ll find one common thread: all of these people created, nourished and leveraged their personal brand and online reputation in order to live the lives they wanted to live, on their own terms. Whether you want to run your own business, work on a tropical island from your labtop or make a little passive income, it all comes down to building a brand and making others hear, understand and relate to your message. With that said, heres the list, prepare to be inspired!
Sean Ogle (@seanogle):
His story: “In 2009 my life sucked. So I quit my job, moved to Thailand, built a business, and started living life the way I’d always wanted. Location 180 documents the journey and teaches you how to do the same thing.”
His Blog: Location 180
Why he Rocks: Sean isn’t just one of those “Hey look at me! My life is awesome. I travel all over the world and make money while doing it. Now go feel bad for yourself while i live it up!” kind of guys. Instead he provides a storybook of his travels on his blog and advice on how you can live independently too by running a location independent online business. His business is his personal brand, and hes leveraged his online reputation to live an awesome life and help others do the same.
Tim Ferriss (@tferriss):
His Story: Tim Ferris is kind of a big deal. He wrote the #1 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and BusinessWeek bestseller, The 4-Hour Workweek and the NYT bestseller The 4-Hour Body.
His Blog: Experiments in Lifestyle Design
Why He Rocks: Tim Ferris wrote The 4-Hour Work week with one premise in mind: outsource the stuff you dont want to do in your life so that you have more time to do the stuff you do want to do. With some of his practical advice you can live life on your own terms as well.
Maren Kate (@marenkate)
Her Story: Maren Kate is a good follow-up to Tim Ferris because in addition to providing great info on her blog about becoming self made she also started a virtual assistant company called Zirtual which helps busy people find virtual staff and virtual assistants. It’s the Match.com of finding virtual staff.
Why She Rocks: She runs a blog with great lifestyle design tips and started a company to help people actually act on that advice. She’s the Yin and yang of lifestyle design.
A shley Ambirge (@TMFproject):
Her Story: I’ll steal a line from her bio: “Hey, I’m Ash, and I started The Middle Finger Project back in October of ’09 as a way to serve up devilishly good insights on how to start, run and rock your small business using the internet…so you can stop trading hours for dollars, work better, and attain a higher quality of life.”
Her Blog: The Middle Finger Project
Why She Rocks: Ash serves up great content for making your online business flourish, she’s also funny and sassy as hell while doing it. Her blog is always a fun read and its packed full of useful information that makes you want to say F**k it, im going to start doing ME (and make money while doing it.)
So there it is, a list of some inspirational people with some realistic advice on taking the reins and living an independent lifestyle. All of these people have their own way of doing things, their own mottos, their own philosophies, their own style, but they were all able to become happy and successful by creating a personal brand online that others could connect with and relate to. That’s what we’re all about here at BrandYourself, empowering people to own their online presence and achieve their goals, whatever they may be. So hats off to these rockstars, keep up the great work.
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As an international speaker and coach, I often have the privilege of speaking to audiences filled with professionals and entrepreneurs who want to shift to a higher level of performance or success. When presenting to these groups I often share: “The fastest path to get where you want is to learn to be who you are on purpose and without apology. When you embrace your unique gifts and talents and learn to stand in your power, you will begin to accelerate your success.” Believe it or not, this 
Your outlook in life is so important, and yet many people never give it much thought. If you’re optimistic, you’ll open doors for yourself and lead a happy life. However, with a negative mindset, you could end up in places that you never intended to be. This isn’t some fairytale ideal; it’s absolutely true!
Have you noticed a new metric on your Facebook Business Page? This number is displayed right under the number that shows how many people have liked your page. The “# are talking about you” metric represents a total for all user-initiated activity related to your Business Page. This number takes into account all of your wall posts, comments, likes, shares, check-ins, photo tags, recommendations, etc have have generated user-initiated activity. You can also find this feature in your page insights.
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