Build yourself and be prepared

You have to be able to write if you are going to promote your own brand online.  Don't sit around and wait for your personal career to try and define your success.  I made the mistake of waiting for 11 years to get the respect that I believe that I deserved inside the company.  I've learned a lot within the company but I could have done a lot more to help myself outside of the company but I didn't.  You are truly the only person that can build the career that you want.  No one else cares what you want they only care about what they want.

Communicate your thoughts professionally and put yourself in a light that focuses on your strengths.
Do you have a hidden talent that you love?  If so work on it in your spare time non-stop.  You may be able to build something from it and you may not be able to.  You'll never know until you try but you truly have nothing to lose.

Lately I've been doing some work on LinkedIn because it's a way to truly network.  I was surprised to get an email from someone in HR for a job through it.  I wasn't even actively looking but I was glad to know that someone was paying attention to the skills that I have.  Participate in some of the groups and express yourself.  Listen and understand what the groups are talking about.  Don't make the mistake of trying to control the group go in with the attitude of trying to be someone who gives to the group.  If you give to the group people will take notice and you'll never know what connections you'll make in return.  People are always looking for someone who can help them get to the next level.  This could be in the form of a new job, business partner or an expert consultant and you could be that person.

The corporate world is definitely changing a lot.  Companies are moving the jobs over seas without a doubt.  As a professional you have to figure out a way to adapt.  You make think that it doesn't affect you but it actually does.  How can you use your skills to combat this so in the future you are somewhat secure?  You may have to prepare yourself to be an online professional who words online and has to travel to different countries?  If so, are you ready to make that happen?

Lots of noise

There's a lot of noise out on the internet with sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.  With the advancement of cell phones it's easier to communicate what you are thinking about how many people actually listen.  Everyone is posting their latest statuses but are people truly listening?  Twitter is one platform that I really wonder how well people listen.  If you post a Tweet from your phone how often do you take the time to read other people's Tweets?

Building a purpose

It's easier to build a brand when you feel like you know your purpose. When you feel like you are doing the things you were meant to do in your life. You ever have those days where it feels like the day is dragging and you wish you were doing something else? If you continue to have that feeling you are working in a field that's not your true purpose. If you aren't sure what your purpose is think of all the things you enjoy doing and figure out how you can make a living doing it.


- Its up to you to decide what your brand is about.

Control your personal brand

By controlling your online image you have the ability to create the life you want.  The image you give is a reflection of how people will perceive you.  Lets say you are an administrative assistant working for a company and you don't like the job.  You feel like you aren't able to use all of your skills to gain better income.  With controlling your online brand you have the potential to use all your skills to build your dream.  This allows you to have a fresh start and to build something that you are proud of.  Whether you are looking to change jobs or build your own company control your brand and you control the future.

Personal branding

Personal branding is such a funny thing because we never truly think about it. When you are on a platform like facebook or google+ you have either a positive or negative brand image. When people see your posts do they automatically ignore them or not? The answer to that question will help you determine your personal brand strength.

Why should you care about your brand online? Your online brand has the potential to be the first thing someone sees that has never met you in person before. I Google people's names all the time to see what information may be out there. A lot of times Facebook or a dating site is the first ones to come up. The reason for that is because those are the only platforms that most people participate in.

Young kids have one of the worst personal brand images out there. The reason is because they don't understand that every post and picture is out there on the Internet for people to make a judgement about. I had this conversation with my teenage daughter about a month ago. People make assumptions off your posts and pictures. The assumption could be completely false but it can hurt you.

Your Personal Google+ Brand

I've been doing some playing around with Google+ for the last two weeks.  If you aren't on Google+ I think it's time you should get on it.  If you are already a Facebook user I want you to take a different approach in Google+.  Use Facebook as a place to really focus on having fun and talking crazy to your friends.  Try using Google+ as a true networking and brand building of your personal self.  Google+ uses social circles to define niches amongst your friends, family and acquaintances.  Placing these individuals in these social circles or groups you can display messages only to this group.  Whether you understand it or not you are a brand.  The way people perceive you on the internet is your own personal brand.  This brand is a reflection of yourself and could help or hinder your from getting a job.

The forgotten website

Sometimes it’s the simple things that make a corporate website great. The simple and easy to use structure is in place because the people behind the site put a lot of effort into trying to understand the user experience. If a website makes you forget about the technology behind it and lets you be in the moment to enjoy its functionality the site has done its job.

When a corporate website is too good it can pose a problem in the corporate environment for its developer. With the implementation of a site that looks simple upper management believes it can be outsourced. Without a firm understanding of what it takes to build the website company management believes it can be handled by anyone. The reality is that it’s a complicated structure connected to databases and servers to complete heavy transactions.

Whether your site serves product, sales, or press information there’s a good chance that there’s some serious programming logic taking place. The developer of the site in a corporate environment is used to simplifying the information he/she is discussing. By simplifying the information it’s easier to get the point across in meetings but it makes it more difficult to relay the expertise needed to make the site perform.

Depending upon who owns your website within the company determines the respect that it receives. No matter where the website ownership lies it tends to never get the funding that it deserves. The lack of understanding by the core team is an impediment to the future of the websites use. The vision can only go as far as the core team can see.

Social media has added to the difficulties by creating a concept that is difficult to measure. The seven-teen thousand Facebook followers you have are they truly helping you sell the company product? If so, how do you prove it? How do you go into a meeting and tie this one Facebook user to the product that was sold yesterday? This is the issue that is popping up in the corporate world today.

While agencies are able to create marketing ads to share on YouTube and social media platforms the corporate website still struggles to find its place. It’s the forgotten hero that started the online promotion in an environment that’s growing. Being blinded by the temporary glamour of social media companies are starting to transfer more of their marketing budget to these platforms without true evidence of a return. This leaves the website still searching for funding to improve the capabilities that were started then neglected for other projects.

The hype is slowing down

The hype around social media is starting to slow down. I think now you'll start to see the real players set themselves apart from the others. It's easy to jump on the band wagon with everyone else but it's difficult to show true value within a corporation.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:E Harry St,Wichita,United States

The Internet Is Its Own Brand

We tend to forget that the Internet itself is a brand. The “Internet” is a term to reference a network that crosses countries and languages. If we didn’t use the term “Internet” it would be difficult for us to communicate what we are referencing to someone else.

The Internet is a road that leads to destinations or pathways. The consumer of services or information travels down these pathways to reach the place of desire. Examples of desires are Disney, Ebay, Amazon and Apple. Daily these pathways are lined with thousands of traffic twenty-four hours a day. The traffic that travels these paths never questions what the “Internet” is because they’ve heard the word so many times the mind captures the word as truth.

Think about your brand on the Internet as a space. The brand is a space where people can choose to come to at any moment. How do people find your space? There are millions of spaces out there so how do you stand out? This is the trick that many corporations are trying to figure out. This is why tools like Adwords are making big funds for companies like Google. We’ve taken an old school concept like the highway with billboards and put it in a technology platform that appears to be new.

Look at the Internet and your website as an electronic structure of your brick and mortar business. Whatever you are doing in the physical realm you should be doing in your Internet space. Spend the time and money on research and development for your online space. Don’t let your information technology group tell you it can’t be done. The question should be, “How can we do it?”

Its About How You Social Market

There are times when I think companies forget why their business is successful. It’s not really about all the fancy processes or the star CEO, CIO, CFO or CMO. It’s about the level of service that you give to the consumer. For a consumer to buy your product there has to be a need for them to want to own it. People drive cars because of the need to make it from one location to another. If that need wasn’t there we wouldn’t buy cars. People purchase airplane tickets to go a further distance in less times. If companies would follow this pattern they would understand the reason people get on social platforms.

No one cares about the selling of products on social platforms, they are their for entertainment. If you can entertain people in the social platform you will win their hearts. How do you take your every day brand and put it in the face of a social audience where it’s providing value? Look at how Zynga is finding its success in the online social marketing space. No one cared about Zynga or even heard of them before they launched Farmville and Mafia Wars. Zynga filled the gap for Facebook users who needed something to fill the time while they were talking with friends and family. Zynga didn’t go out and tell the consumer to purchase the product they let the Facebook consumer play the games in their free time. When the consumer liked the product they naturally shared with their friends and family. To get users to make a purchase they came of with a great marketing plan to put upgrade directly into the game to help you advance quicker. Once you have an upgrade you can share the announcement with your friends enticing them to want the same upgrades.

Whatever your social marketing model is, you need to make sure the service that it provides fits the environment. Your normal video promotions that look like television ads won’t work here. I don’t mean to go out and make an over the top YouTube video either. Find a way to truly make your brand interactive on social media. It’s not too late, for the companies that got on Facebook late maybe see what you can do to prepare for Google+.

The studio

One step closer to completing my web/communications studio at home. Not even exactly sure of everything that I need. I wanted to build something where I could express myself in my own way. I think I have that now and I'm excited to start building some concepts.

Small business advantage

Up late sending emails about web strategies. It's interesting to think about how easy a small business can react to new technologies. If there is a tool that a small business wants to use they instantly try it out. Big corporations don't have that luxury. I guess what I'm trying to say is small businesses need to use their speed to react as an advantage over larger corporations. As a small business owner you may not have the money to out advertise these corporations but you can beat them to the tool before they have a chance to get going.

The New Year - know my boundaries

First post of the new year... I started off my resolution of 2011 with doing a better job of supporting the corporate website for the company I work for. It's a little difficult sometimes because everyone wants to do everyone else's job. I sometimes even catch myself focusing on the design of the site instead of the thinking about the strategy. The design is the graphic designers job and it's my job to figure out the best way to get people to the site and keep them there. It's important to know when to let someone who knows more than you on a particular subject take the lead. I've seen many situations where people who don't really understand something try to act like they know about it. It may not seem like a big deal but it hurts the project and may lead the group down the wrong path.