For Social Media Jugglers...

Click on the title to be re-directed to one company's take on juggling social media. The most relevant point for me was the suggestion to simplify. Yes, I can try to be on as many as possible, but when the possibilities are at the expense of quality, I should stop. When I have to decide between commenting on a friend's blog post or signing up on Digg, I should forget the latter.

Post a comment about your challenges juggling social media. I'd love to hear what you think!

- MJP

Wasting time like a pro!

I just read an article on SocialMediaToday.com called, "6 Ways to Waste Your Time on Social Media." Click the title of this post to go directly to the post. It did a great job of pointing out some fairly common ways that a lot of people, including myself, waste time in the social sphere.

The Problem with Second Life

In response to another LinkedIn, question about the advantages to marketing in Second Life, I said:

"From an Internet marketing standpoint, the pros are minimal. I've dabbled in Second Life, and most of what I found was a lot of people trying to escape reality. That can be a viable target market, but most of the products for sale in Second Life are only useful IN Second Life itself. So, unless you have an entirely virtual product for use in the "game," there's no use looking into marketing opportunities in that arena. People I ran into in the game were looking to escape reality, not to go there and be bombarded with the 'same old stuff.'"

Glocalization: An Introduction

I've said it before: LinkedIn is a great tool, and my favorite feature is still the "Answers" section. The following answer is one that I gave to this question: "Networking event: What would attract you to an off-line networking event?"

The person who asked the question liked my answer better than the other 18 people who replied to her query.

My answer:
“I agree with other responders when I say that LOCALITY is one key issue for me. Honestly, to get the biggest bang for the attendees, you should do a SERIES of these events all over the country (or world). Make it truly local, with local companies, but global by addressing key business issues of the day. Make it a "glocal" movement by focusing on different local events with a broad, global view and feel. That would draw me to it.”

"Glocal" is one of my favorite marketing words of all time. When I say it, people look at me funny, but it's becoming an important part of how business works; here are some definitions to get you started thinking about it:

A global brand does the following:
- Maintains a uniform strategy.
- Standardizes positioning and image across countries.

Glocal brands:
- Adapt to local markets.
- Don't necessarily share the same characteristics across all markets.

It gets more complicated than these simple definitions, but I'll save the rest for some more posts. For now, just remember that glocal brands focus on localized strategy and tactics with global backing.

Three Things for Your Personal Brand

Personal branding is important for every marketer, if only to prove to potential clients that you understand what a brand is and how to build it.

According to an article I recently read in Deliver magazine, there are three main things that every personal brand needs. And frankly, I agree with all three. They are:

Expand your expertise
This is my favorite one of the three because it involves one of my favorite pastimes: learning to do new things. It’s the reason I manage a variety of groups on LinkedIn and the impetus behind me starting this and Bountiful® Wi-Fi’s blogs. It’s also the reason I’ve accepted so many different positions at my current company, from product design to quality assurance. I’m willing to do whatever they need me to do because it allows me to learn about several different parts of the business.

Boost your visibility
As a natural extension of expanding your expertise, your visibility will increase. You’ll meet new people who will therefore expand your network. Also, you should pick a few key places on the web to put information about yourself. I suggest LinkedIn, Facebook and one other, more industry-specific network. I like SocialMediaToday.com for the third one, personally. It's for social networking professionals only, so it's the perfect, industry-specific social networking site for me.

Protect your brand
With the additional visibility comes an increased danger. If someone does a search of your name, they’re bound to find the bad along with the good. Fortunately, this increased visibility also makes it easier for you to find and deal with threats. I’m not going to get into how to deal with affronts to your character in this post, but there are many ways to stop people from marring your otherwise reputable brand.

Cheap ways to help your "personal brand"...

In this LinkedIn Answer, I was writing to a person who wanted to sell themselves as an inventor. They had past success with creating successful products, so it wasn't just out of nowhere. If you have NO experience in an area, you need to be careful not to lie, but if you have had even a small amount of exposure, you can highlight it in things you write and say.

Here's what I suggested to the inventor, and he rewarded me with a "Best Answer."

"It's interesting to see the difference between a company's definition - in this case, it's YOUR definition - and a consumer/customer view of 'brand.' You see yourself as intelligent, creative and under-recognized for your achievements. To someone looking to utilize your services or creativity, you may seem invisible.

"In the end, which is the definition that will prevail? It's always the customer's definition of 'brand.' They're the ones who decide what happens to your 'personal brand.' The old saying, 'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,' holds true in this case. In the minds of consumers/customers is where the brand really lives.

"Once you come to that realization, the next step is to decide how you can INFLUENCE the way people view your brand. Have you changed your LinkedIn profile to emphasize your best qualities, or does it merely function as a list of things you've done? You need to do a search and see how you appear in references on the Internet. Every touch-point people have with your brand could be the deciding factor in what they think of you. Make sure all of these places are putting forth the right image.

"Next, I would start a professional blog that you use to talk about new creative ideas and about your past successes. Use generalities to talk about new ideas to make sure you don't give things away, but when talking about past successes, be specific. Promote your blog by including it in searches on Google and Yahoo!. That way, your name and blog will appear in people's search results; this will increase your visibility online so that people will be able to find you easier.

"These are all simple and non-costly ways of increasing your visibility and strengthening people's opinions of you as a serious inventor. Other options are available, but they will be more costly as you try to market yourself. Also, while you're at it, change your resume to emphasize your strengths as an inventor, too. Always remember that your 'personal brand' exists in the minds of those who come in contact with you. Make sure every instance is a good one!”