Multiple Brand Disorder...

I was talking with a friend (we’ll call her Mary) recently and she really worried about what she perceived to be another friend’s (let’s say...Julie) faux pas on Facebook. Julie is a writer, and she posted a fairly revealing and intimate ‘break up’ post. Mary was worried that this would damage Julie’s reputation in some way and advised her not to continue to publish this sort of material.

I had a very different reaction.

“What does Julie write about?” I asked Mary.

“Oh, she writes all about relationships. Intensely,” she responded.

“So - what she wrote on Facebook was very much in line with who she is and what she writes?” I prompted.

“Yes.”

“So why shouldn’t she extend who she is online?” I asked. “I think it reinforces her brand.”

The idea of a personal brand has gone mainstream recently, but it dates back to 1997, and started to gain legs around 2005 with the inception of LinkedIn. But, 2007 is when we started to see articles about it in Fast Company and hear from ‘personal brand’ gurus like Chris Brogan. Now, people talking about online identity management are everywhere. There’s even a site - PersonalBrandingBlog.com.

The basic premise is this... personal branding is essentially all the ways you create a web presence for yourself online that distinguishes you from the maddening and ever growing crowd. This can be done intentionally or unintentionally. It can also be done by omission. If you aren’t participating online in this day and age, that also sends a very distinct message.

Online - you are what you publish. Your ‘brand’ is created by all the content you put out there... pictures, comments, links, etc. (Go to www.pipl.com and search on your name... see what comes up. This aggregated content gives you a snapshot of your ‘brand’). Your online personality evolves over time through the interactions you have with people via social networks, your avatar (the picture or animation you use in your profiles), the information you share, the groups you join, the causes you support, the people you follow and who follow you and anything else you send out into the online universe.

Your online brand should be worth something. The stronger and more dynamic it is - the more it’s worth. Marketers are used to thinking about brand equity - but there is such a thing as personal brand equity as well. If you fully embody your own personal brand, if you are someone online that others respect and follow, if your voice is heard in certain niches, or with certain groups of people, that has value to potential employers. Your successful online brand will elevate their brand (it could also kill it - so do keep that in mind). A strong personal brand can also position you very well to be your own boss. The idea of the valuable rolodex that a person brings to a for-profit or nonprofit business has expanded exponentially.

Your personality and your ‘brand’ are really the same thing, or at least I think they should be. Currently, our culture embraces openness, transparency, and authenticity. The people who have the strongest online personalities are those with acute self-awareness and the ability to just ‘be who they are.’ They love to share information, don’t hold back with their opinions about things, and are often passionate about it. Belief in your own voice is critical to personal branding success. So when you’re wondering if you should ‘share’ something be self-aware. Would you share it in a room full of casual acquaintances. Who are the people in your network? How much would you share with them if you were all at a big dinner table? Then, once you’ve figured that out, just be you.

Potential Consequence of Accidental Eavesdropping

My heads spinning a little, the new Facebook feed has lent to some fantastic thoughts about the potential consequence of accidental eavesdropping. Yesterday a wall-to-wall conversation between two friends was brought to my attention in the Facebook stream. Something I would have previously not seen or thought about was now front and center in the middle of my screen.

Their conversation was about trading stock and who bought what, when, and other ideas about what to buy and why. It occurred to me at that moment 'what if they or other people were talking about things that I shouldn't know about?' (Enter images of Martha Stewart) I mean ImClone founder Sam Waksal, was arrested for informing friends and family to sell their stock, and attempting to sell his own. How many conversations on Facebook might equate to a similar to situation? What if I never meant to see it, but someone shared something they shouldn't have and now I know? Could I be trouble?

So I settle down and think that people "in-the-know" of that kind of insider information would surely be savvy enough to not post it on a social network and likely wouldn't even use email.

But then...I started to think about the speed at which information travels in these new platforms, specifically Facebook and Twitter. And about what kind of an effect that rapid information disbursement could have on the stock exchange. I mean who's to say some group couldn't just agree to buy company "X" stock one day - all within minutes of each other get the word out to buy,...and then sell six hours later after the price has jumped due to the high influx of interest. I imaged Bud Fox Tweeting "Blue Horse Shoe Loves Anacot Steel." and everyone in the Twitterspehere buying. At very least we have the makings of a great new version of Wall Street.

Don't Get Twitter? Learn by doing...

At the same time as Twitter is going mainstream (okay - maybe not as mainstream as Facebook - but it still has a faster adoption rate than blogging did), I hear from people all the time that they just don't 'get' it.

So - let's break it down. Twitter is a ubiquitous micro-blogging application that allows people to publish messages of 140 characters or less - from their mobile phones or the web. Twitter currently has a worldwide audience of over 6 million unique visitors a month and provides unparalleled access to thought leaders and celebrities. Entrepreneurs are finding creative ways of using Twitter to drive traffic, and mainstream media outlets like CNN Breaking News @cnnbrk, The New York Times @nytimes, and the BBC @BBCClick have a wide reach with hundreds of thousands of followers.

Mostly, I hear that people just don't understand how to use this broadcasting system that is very different than Facebook. How do I create my own personal 'voice' on Twitter?

Julia Angwin of The Wall Street Journal wrote a great story on how to use Twitter. It's a great place to start if you're not familiar.

I personally love Twitter because I learn something new all the time. People provide information and links to things I never would have come across on my own. I'm introduced to people that I never would have met otherwise. And, I'm learning about whole new ways of raising money and networking in the social media environment. It's constant evolution.

I'm still working on finding (or re-discovering?) my own voice for Twitter... I'll write more about that process at a later date.

In the meanwhile, if you don't GET Twitter - just sign up and 'lurk' for a while... getting started is pretty easy - and the best way to learn is often by doing.

And you can follow me, Tara Mahady, on Twitter too!

Eavesdropping is fun but Facebook is better...

I'm an eavesdropper. I listen in on conversations everywhere I go, often to the chagrin of whoever I happen to be out with (and probably those whose privacy I'm invading). I can't help it, I'm fascinated to hear little snippets of other people's lives.

Morning conversation overheard in a coffee shop: "My daughter is going to a basketball game tonight. Of course, I only know that because I read it on her status update."

Overheard conversation #2 at lunch: "Did you see on Linda's status update that she and the kids went to the Children's Museum? Sounds like Sasha had a meltdown, poor thing."

Final overheard conversation at a bookstore cafe: "I can't believe that Mike and Allison are going out! I found out on her Facebook status. I'm so happy for her!"

These days, I eavesdrop on these sorts of conversations, in which people's and daily activities are being widely reported and then commented upon - all thanks to networks like Facebook.

Then, just today, I went to my partner's new office and ran into her boss. She's a 'newbie' to the social networking world and a friend of mine on Facebook. She gave me a hug and the first words out of her mouth were "I feel like I know what's happening with you all the time now because of Facebook! I love it!"

Yesterday on my way to the other side of the state for a meeting, I called a colleague about a conference in which I'm participating. 'Hi Tara,' she greets me. 'On your way to Portsmouth are you?' She'd read my status update on Facebook.

The fastest growing demographic on Facebook is women 50+. And you know something has gone mainstream when Oprah has three questions about it on her Hot Topics page...

I love Facebook because it's even better than eavesdropping on people's conversations. You get to be part of peoples' lives and know what's happening with them from the mundane, to the bizarre, to the dramatic. And you can insert yourself into the conversation unlike when you're eavesdropping!

Over 175,000,000 people actively use Facebook now, and it's growing to the tune of 7,000 users per day. The company is making accommodations for celebrities and companies so they can act more like 'individuals' on Facebook rather than as static sites without the ability to interact in the same ways. Oprah Winfrey will be one of the first on board, as will be Britney Spears.

"Facebook is such a cool and easy way for me to connect with my fans while I'm on the road," said Britney Spears according to Facebook's press release. "I love that I can update my status, blog and post videos and photos all in one place."

As the Facebook frenzy reaches a feverish pitch, organizations are realizing that for many of them, this is where their audience is spending their time. (This and many other social networks, like Flickr, MySpace, LinkedIn, to name a few.) And, as the old marketing adage goes - you need to meet your audience where they are.

Organizations slapping up Facebook pages, signing up for LinkedIn, or beginning to blog. And they are literally slapping them up with no real strategy in mind, or understanding of how to leverage the evolving communities and their connections. Many are attempting to apply old school marketing practices in this new environment - and it just doesn't work.

If you're going to implement a Facebook page, you need to have a strategy for how to stay connected and remain relevant with your audience. People's attention spans aren't long... so, keeping people curious and engaged is key. (As in shorter blog posts for one thing!) As with anything - knowing what, when, why, and how you are going to proceed is the only way you'll succeed.

You can begin by paying attention to the way people interact through social networks. Sign up for Facebook if you haven't already. Check out Twitter, and Flickr, and LinkedIn. And don't immediately think about what YOU want to get out of it... just be part of it for a little while (existentially FB?). Spend some time eavesdropping before inserting yourself into the conversation... as happens when you are face to face, inserting yourself in the wrong way, at the wrong time, and with the wrong tone can turn people off for good.