Blog Post: Keeping Your Brand On Course in the Social Media Universe

Last night's ASTD-Orange County Learning Event focused on social media and how to use the ever-expanding social network to manage your personal and business brands (which, in the world wide web, are practically becoming one and the same!) There were quite a few attendees, from neophytes setting up their first web page to seasoned Tweople, and the evening's discussion ensured everyone got some interesting tidbit from the meeting.

Jonathan Good, our presenter, shared a few key points on why being an active social networker is important.

The main one: you're already out there.

I liken this to being at a recurring meeting but not talking to anyone. If you continue to attend that meeting, residing in your own corner of the room, people will talk about you. Those who already know you might say that you're an OK person, just kind of introverted.  Those who don't know you may say less appealing things. And those who you may have rubbed the wrong way, well... what they say might travel through the room as fast as a scandalmonger's innuendo at an Embassy Ball.

Jonathan checks out how he appears on Google frequently.  He shared a few of his tools with us, indicating exactly how on top of your personal and business brand you can be -- or, differently put, how on top of what others will find out about you, should they Google you.  Jonathan works to manage the bad message and promote a good one.  How is a big topic, so Jonathan focused on the "Big Three:"

• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Twitter

Each of these systems has a unique means of helping you get the word out about yourself. A straw poll at the meeting showed most everyone used LinkedIn, although to what degree we didn't discover. Not as many used Facebook -- fewer Tweet.

Simply put, the first step to managing your brand online is to make sure those who know your name also know who you are and what you stand for.  The easiest way to do this is to incorporate your Elevator Speech -- a succinct message about what employers or clients can expect from you -- wherever a system asks for your bio or summary.  LinkedIn asks for a Professional Experience and Goals Summary, and gives you plenty of space in which to do this.  Use your 90 second Elevator Speech there, if you can.  When you set up your Facebook page or a Twitter account, create a bio that introduces you to others when they either search for you or visit your profile.  This can be more important that you realize -- I've searched for people in Twitter whose bios include the key word eLearning, and found loads of people from whom I can learn something.  Anyone else doing the same thing has found my Twitter profile, and may follow me as a result.

If you want to be considered a credible expert in a field, then the first step is making sure the social universe knows which field you represent.

The meeting ended late, yet with way too many 'how-to' questions, 'why' questions, and 'I'd like to learn more' comments. So a few members of the ASTD-OC Board colluded, and decided that it would be beneficial to continue this discussion with a couple of workshops this summer.  These will be how-to workshops, free to members, each focusing on a social networking tool -- how to get you established within that tool and using it to your best advantage.  I'm thinking of calling them the Social Summer Series.

Keep an eye out for more info as things develop!

 

By the way, ASTD-OC is on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, and also has its own web site.  Feel free to connect we're open to all who want to learn more about managing a career in the workplace learning and performance field.