Late-night television is quite interesting, especially if you stay up long enough to watch the programs run out and the commercials take over. On one of my insomnia-plagued nights, I made an attempt to bore myself to sleep and turned on the television.
Much to my amusement (which was the opposite of what I was trying to achieve at this point), I found a commercial for this little gem: Reputation.com.
To be quite frank, this commercial scared the living hell out of me.
According to the website, the purpose of this online reputation management tool is to “control how you look on the Internet. People searching for you are judging you, too – defend yourself against digital discrimination.”
It had never occurred to me to type my name into a search engine, but suddenly, at 2:46 AM, this seemed to be a crucial task. Unlike the commercial’s characters, who had their reputation “attacked” by harsh online remarks, nothing came up for my name at all.
So what’s worse: the necessity for Reputation.com or not having a reputation to defend?
I’ll tell you the answer: both. At the end of the day, whether you have a bad personal brand or none at all, it still means that you don’t have control of your personal brand.
Being a spawn of the technology generation comes with its pros and cons. The double-edged sword in this situation is that while your online image can be as important as your work experience, it can also be as dangerous as a criminal record.
But before you pay to have someone else watch your name, here’s how I would build my personal brand using social media so I won’t end up like the poor souls on the Reputation.com commercial:
1. Become a rockstar. My personal brand describes who I am, it's simple but loud: eccentric marketing apprentice. I know what I'm after and I define it clearly; as a marketing lover, I know creativity is key yet as a student, I'm still learning.
2. Find some groupies. Finding a following is very difficult when you don’t who to talk to. I know how awkward I am with people my own age, so I always cater to the professional, post-college crowd that sees my perspective as “spunky yet mature”.
3. Pick the perfect guitar. Sure, there’s millions of social media platforms to choose from, like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. I stick to three, all of which are in tune with my brand objectives and make it much easier for damage control in the future.
4. DON’T WRITE 10 MINUTE SONGS! The average adult cannot sustain attention for more than 20 minutes. So when I blog, I make sure I can read it in under five because it’s better for your audience to crave more than to get sick of it all.
5. Get the roadies in on the fun, too. What goes around, comes around. I always shout-out/ retweet/ share articles about my company (MIDDLE ATLANTIC RULES!) not only because it shows off my ability to publicize, but I'll be referred back to the company when someone searches it.
6. Go platinum. The only way to measure your success is against your own objectives. At the end of the day, if I can use my new knowledge to create a crazy and new idea that actually worked, then I can sleep easy.
If you’ve gained nothing else from what I’ve posted, just remember that if you don’t build your own personal brand, you’ll be left with two options: you’re going to end up on Reputation.com or you'll be another one biting the dust.
http://keansocialmedia.blogspot.com
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