Brand & Build

Recently I was talking on Twitter with a friend of mine about an organization that he used to work for that I'm doing some marketing consulting for. The words Brand & Build appeared in a tweet I sent.

Some of you may wonder, what's the purpose behind all this social media stuff.

I have wondered at times too.

But over the past few years as I started sharing my thoughts and those of others on a couple of blogs, I was building a personal brand.

I have a marketing, advertising and sales background with a thirst for knowledge, touch of humor and an ability to look at both the BIG Picture and the little details.

Brand & Build.

Last month when I did my presentation to the J-Term students at Huntington University, many were surprised that I was able to easily uncover info about them. Nothing damaging, but some of the reactions afterward:

Our names are the heaviest things we will ever carry. Like a brand name or logo, we are always known by what is represented under our name. Like how the quote of mine was used in the presentation, people will now know me as a Listener fan. If they like Listener or not now may have an effect on how they view me. Whatever we put or name, or personal brand on, will follow us everywhere and we will be judged on it. It’s both a scary yet immensely powerful tool.

Here's another student:

I thought the presentation was very good! I consider it pretty scary that he was able to just pull all that information about us off social networking we use. Now that our names’ are all over the internet we need to be careful how we brand our-self. As we learned in one of the Youtube videos, things that are posted online stay there.

And a couple more:

I liked the presentation today because it showed us the type of branding we may need to use to get our brand or name out there. I also find myself a little uneasy to know that someone can find out all of these things he showed in class about us by the search of our names.

I agree with Drew about feeling a little uneasy about how easily we can be accessed. I know that I’m putting content on the pages and others can see them, but it was a little more of a reality check of how easily it can be done. I will definitely be more aware of what gets posted, especially in mind of future employers looking at my pages.

When I responded to their comments, I mentioned that they had the power to create their own Personal Brand and Build on it by being involved in creating their own Social Media presence. Just like I have over the years.

If you want to see the presentation I did for their class click here. It is best viewed in Full Screen Mode.

You are creating a Brand.

ScLoHo's Social Media Adventure will help you Build too.

Your comments and questions are always welcome.