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CAREEREALISM TV: 6 Rules for Social Media Use = Personal Branding Made Simple

March 23, 2009 by sparktalk 

FACT: Social media has the ability to make the single greatest impact on your career identity.

If you aren’t leveraging tools like Facebook, LinkedIn, and most importantly, Twitter, you could find yourself at a disadvantage very soon.

Now, if you are rolling your eyes and saying to yourself, “Is she kidding? I’m already addicted to my Crackberry. I don’t have time to spend hours each day with this stuff,” then you are in luck. Because this presentation teaches you the 6 Rules to Using Social Media to Create A Strong Career Identity.

Here’s just a couple of things you’ll learn:

Rule #2 – Take it Slow Are you guilty of using cheezy pick up lines when you network online? You could be and may not even know it!

Rule #5 – Choose Your Brand (HINT: Specialize) You can’t be all things online. So, it’s important to identify how you will stand out from the crowd. Do you know how to make sure people know what you do best?

In just 10 minutes/day (c’mon now, it takes you longer to shower, dress and brush your teeth), you can develop a personal brand online that will make your career identity standout.

Last week, I spoke to the Catapult Seacoast Young Professionals group and taped the session. In it, you’ll learn the 6 rules and why they are critical for success. Moreover, I outline how ANYONE can create a personal brand online that will get them noticed. Better still, I prove why you need to understand the #1 career truth: brand or be branded.

Watch below…

(NOTE: I had a terrible time trying to get this thing converted/loaded. It was filmed in HiDef but you’d never know it! We are looking for a way to put 30 minute self-help courses like this one on line without looking so blurry. So, if you know tools/resources that can help – please let us know!)

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Filed Under: Career Advice (Articles), HP_SHOT_Vid, Networking (In-person & On-line)
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Comments

  • Very helpful, as usual. You are one of my best teachers.
  • J.T. O'Donnell
    Thanks so much - we are trying to serve up insightful info. Feel free to shoot us any questions and/or ideas for content you may have at info@careerealism.com.

    I hope to have the video fixed this week. But I promise, if you take the time to watch the class, you'll learn some interesting things about personal branding. :)
  • I'm enjoying the presentation.

    For your HD question: have you considered using Vimeo? http://vimeo.com/faq
  • J.T. O'Donnell
    Thanks David!

    I'm checking it out now. The big challenge is splitting a 1.3 G file into smaller ones. I seem to be completely incapable of doing this with the software tools I've found online. But Vimeo looks great! I appreciate you taking the time to mention it!
  • JT. Love the information you have shared in this video! Very insightful.
  • J.T. O'Donnell
    Thanks Maureen - and thanks also for putting up with the video quality!
  • Andrew Hennessy
    I had the honor of attending this event and witnessed JT speaking live to the group. Although the sound quality was a little better in person (must have been the camera man's fault), everything that she says is true. Personal branding is so important; especially with today's economy. You have to learn how to set yourself apart from competitors.

    This video offers some of the best career identity advice you can get, and its only about a half hour long. Using these simple branding tools (Facebook, Linked-In, and Twitter) you can brand yourself and get a step up on the competition. Best part is...it's FREE!
  • Keep it good, keep it clean, and keep it smart! - You don't know who is conducting a search on you!
  • BenEubanks
    I've been working on my own for a while, and it has certainly made an impact. When I went to a recent job interview, the lady had printed out some of the articles that I've been writing. It was a great topic for discussion. I am hoping to get a job that allows me to demonstrate the importance of these social media tools to the company. Many are missing out on the importance!

    As for the video... I usually check the Komando.com site for computer/tech questions. She has an amazing amount of free knowledge gathered over there. Would this help? http://www.komando.com/downloads/category.aspx?...
  • Josh Neal
    What do you suggest we put in our elevator speech?

    Two or three sentence seems very limited for trying to sell myself.
  • J.T. O'Donnell
    Ahh - and there is your personal branding challenge Josh. Similar to how 'tweeting' on Twitter teaches us how to get our message across in a few words, we also need to develop our Career Story in a few, simple, yet memorable sentences.

    I suggest writing out what you want to say and the repeatedly editing it until you boil it down. What one word can convey what you wrote in one sentence?

    Reach out to trusted colleagues and share what you've come up with too. Getting other's perspective can help with the process.

    By the time you are done, you'll have internalized the message, making it even easier to promote.

    And of course, feel free to post your's here - I bet the fellow readers of CAREEREALISM will help you!
  • Josh Neal
    Thanks for the advice J.T.

    I’ll try to get going on a rough draft of my elevator speech.
  • QuestingElf
    It seems that so many of these "personal branding" tools are more for connecting with people who have already bought into it. Yes, they can help you get in touch with people much more readily nowadays.

    At the same time, there are plenty of people and business opportunities that do not occur online. Not everybody wants nor needs to have a Web presence that spans the LinkedIn / MySpace / Facebook / Twitter plus Web site combo. Pounding the pavement may seem obsolete to some, yet in a world that's starving for high touch, you can indeed connect in person, especially with some people who still have something worth adding to both your personal and business lives. (Whether or not they want to then plunge online is optional; it doesn't mean they're worthless as many articles about these tool imply.)
  • J.T. O'Donnell
    @Question Elf,

    I don't disagree that high-touch is a productive option. Face-to-face wins every time - for those that do it well. However, there is a large population out there that actually networks better online. Not everyone has the confidence, personality, or mindset to do the 'pounding the pavement' approach. Those who can, should do it right now, but for many others, the new social media networking platform breaks down barriers and lets them develop meaningful relationships.

    Additionally, the social media platform allows reach. I can't visit in-person all the people who could impact my professional success (plane fare is too expensive). But now, thanks to online networking, I have a powerful group of colleagues...that I've never met in person.

    Would you agree?

    Thanks for stopping by and posting, I really hope we see you here more often!

    JT
  • Although I am fairly new to Twitter and Linked In, I can already see the importance of these new tools

    First, I started looking for people to follow that were related to my field of interest, Psychology. Then, slowly but surely I began to see people following me that were in the psych field, so I guess I am not alone after all.

    However, even though I know that these new tools will be important somehow in the long run, I am still a bit skeptical as to how effective they will be at landing me a job or steering me in the right direction. Maybe I just need more practice.
  • clitzelman
    Really enjoyed the above piece. I'm interested in your thoughts on appropriate privacy settings for Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter profiles with regards to building a personal brand.
  • Social networking as a career strategy is brilliant when done right. Thank you for this insightful presentation on the proper way to leverage this technology. I have forwarded this to all our our graduate students at our top-30 Business School, here in New York state. Thank you for every minute. It is powerful.
  • Anthony Navarro
    Hi. I can't hear the audio. I'm an audio engineer and I can fix this if you'd like. I'm trying to watch this on a macbook pro.
  • billcorbett
    Good point specializing and differentiation are the key. Tell your story, and explain why you are different, not the best, and you will be on your way.
  • I am really enjoying your site. So helpful. What a find... THANK YOU.
  • This is a neat presentation. Would it be possible to post a copy of the PowerPoint presentation? I could hear the message but the slide were small. Thanks for the great information!
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