Dan Schawbel « Buzzle

You already have a
Personal Brand. It is what
people think of when they
hear your name....

Branding was created to ensure honesty, provide quality assurance, identify source or ownership, hold producers responsible, differentiate, as a form of identification, to enhance VALUE and to create EMOTIONAL bonding. People still look to brands to provide these things. Does your personal brand provide these things?.

Posts Tagged ‘Dan Schawbel’

7 Must Do’s for Your Personal Brand Online

Sunday, June 28th, 2009

: Image via CrunchBase

There is a lot of talk about personal branding…and there is a lot of activity happening for us at Buzzle too! As Dan Schawbel said, “it is Personal Branding Season”

This being the case, I still see ssssoooo many people who are not ‘getting onboard’ and realising that the Personal Branding goldrush is happening NOW (thanks Gary Vaynerchuk for this..great vid on GV and the Goldrush right here).

So today I wanted to share the 7 things you absolutely should be doing NOW to create, protect or promote your Personal Brand!

1. Register your name as a domain!

I am astounded at the number of entrepreneurs and sole traders who I speak to who still do not have their names registered as domains! This week alone, I have presented to over 500 people at 2 events, and when I jump onwww.cheapdomains.com.au to see if people in the crowd names’ are available to register – they usually are! If you can, register your country specific domain (.com.au, .co.uk etc), then grab .com (as it is still the primary domain) and grab .id or .id.au (your country) also. The .id domain was established for this very reason..to protect your id!

2. Develop your promise!

So what do you do? Many people hate being asked this question, and when asked, most people I come across answer this question terribly! The truth is, we have 5 seconds to answer the question (not 15 or 30 as some people will have you believe!). Why do we only have 5 seconds…because we are animals and when we meet someone new, our survival instinct kicks in, and we must decide whether to fight or flight (i.e. stay or go!). When asked this question, you absolutely must give and answer that is short, intriguing, accurate and encourages query and interest…otherwise you will never get the chance to tell your story!

3. Register on the BIG 4

There are over 2,000 seperate social media sites – and 10-12 mainstream sites that get most of the attention. For me, the 4 you absolutely must be on are

It is free to register, and if you don’t someone may just register your name for you! (ask Shel Israel ro Stephen Conroy about this experience). Register them now…don’t worry too much about adding great content just yet – that will come!

4. Get a blog!

Despite all the hype around twitter and services like 12seconds etc, blogs are still the number 2 most influential channel in social media. I list a blog seperarately to the other 4 sites – because a blog takes time, energy and you must have a purpose to write good content and get good traffic. If writing is not your thing, then create video content or invite guest bloggers to add content (your friends for example). If you need any other ideas on how to build a better blog, then download Probloggers (Darren Rowse) super 31 Days to a Better Blog workbook!

5. Do sh*&, don’t bullsh*&

I always ask my clients to come up with 3 big projects in 90 days that will demonstrate their promise, and get people to sit up and take notice! For example, if your promise is to ‘make business greener’ then;

commit to writing a free e-book on the subject,
interview some green business owners and blog about it, and
arrange a competition in your local area for the ‘greenest business’

Anyone can be online, and anyone can look like they are doing GREAT things…but people have had enough of the bullsh*& – so do great things and people will talk about you and you will get noticed!

6. Approach the thought leaders in your space

If your promise is around capital raising and buying and selling businesses, then you need to connect with the leaders in this field online! You MUST connect with guys like Guy Kawasaki. Or if you are into public speaking, then make a connection with guys like Garr Reynolds…seek them out, and develop a relationship. These relationships will introduce you to new networks, new ideas, and will help with your credibility! Remember, it is not who you know, but who knows you, so reach out to people in your space; they are not competitors!

7. Be Persistently Consistent

I cannot talk about this enough. This is where most people I see fall over when it comes to building their personal brand online! I see people blog or register online and go like crazy with updates and posts for about 4 weeks, then they disappear – poof, into thin air! When people Google you and see you have not done anything for the last 6 months, it affects your credibility negatively! The same goes for offline – if you plan to turn up to networking events, then pick a few you can attend regularly, and keep turning up!

All the best, get these 7 things done, and have fun doing it!

Tags:Dan Schawbel, Facebook, Gary Vaynerchuk, Google, Guy Kawasaki, luke harvey-palmer, Personal Brand
Posted in Social Media | 5 Comments »

You 2.0

Friday, December 12th, 2008

: Image via CrunchBase

Dan Schawbel has recently finished his book “Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success”

Given the title of the book, I wanted to explain what this means for YOU 2.0.

We have all heard of Web 2.0, and we all know the 2.0 stands for the 2nd version of the web right? WRONG. This is part of the story, but the interesting thing to know is that the 2.0 also means there are now 2 people in the conversation. Web 1.0 was all about direct advertising, and pushing messages at you with little engagement or consultation. As consumers, we now demand more than this, we want to be engaged, involved, listened to, and asked of our opinion. Web 2.0 is all about the online tools that allow for this interaction – like Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter and blogging! Media now needs to engage others, and involve them in the conversation…if you doubt this, just spend a moment to reflect on Barack Obama’s recent successful Presidential Campaign!

So what does this mean for YOU 2.0?

Not only does the media need to reflect the values of Web 2.0, but so too does your personal brand! Like any successful web 2.0 and Social Media campaign, you should be considering how your personal brand delivers on the four essential stages of the 2.0 world!

1. LISTENING – what are your target audience talking about, and what are they demanding from your personal brand. Do they need you to be available or knowledgeable or to simply respond when they ask a question…either way, you need to be listening to you target audience (this is difficult if you do not know who you target audience is!)

2. TALKING – do you encourage conversation about your skills, talents, products or services..what are you selling? How do you encourage this conversation. Do you take 2 or 3 customers to lunch on a monthly basis, do you introduce your network to one another? You know your personal brand is powerful when others do the selling for you!

3. INVOLVING - when was the last time you asked a customer or prospect for feedback on your services and your brand attributes? When was the last time you asked friends or colleagues to explain you in 3 words or less. If you ask for this feedback, be sure to thank them for it, and then demonstrate how you have taken this feedback on board.

4. SUPPORTING – you know your personal brand is super effective when your prospects and customers are now solving one another’s problems, and speaking to one another about your services in a positive light!

5. ENGAGING – the final stage in the YOU 2.0 process is the engagement of your target audience in the process of product and strategy development. Who developed your last product or service..your customers or you?

So, how are you going to start listening to your target audience? Think about these 5 steps and how you can integrate them into you business or life. You can be assured that by following these 5 steps, you will find your personal brand will engage others, and draw them to you.