November 4th, 2009
Branding Yourself for Social Media
In cash you haven’t noticed, there’s a gold rush on these days. It’s called social media and everyone’s rushing to the river. I get dozens of questions a day, varying in degrees of sophistication, about Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Most people are apologetic — as if they should “get it,” as if somehow they’re supposed to understand this increasingly complex and ever-changing maelstrom that’s swirling around all of us.
It seems to me that folks just can’t grab the social media products off the internet shelves fast enough –whether they understand how to use them or whether they’re right for their business or not. They just plain have to have them!
My advice: slow down! Take a deep breath and stop trying to make the problem fit the solution. Yes, eventually we will all be adept at our usage of Twitter, but for now it is still in the early adopter stage–meaning, it’s not as mainstream as everyone thinks it is.
I tell me clients that they need a brand — for themselves and for their business — before they even think about going more than ankle deep in the online social media waters. If Twitter only gives you 140 characters (not words–characters, including spaces) you better have the right words, the right memorable words, that are going to immediately identify you bobbing amidst the tsunami of other people who are vying for their place in the social media sun.
And speaking of beginning at the beginning, click here for a terrific “how-to” for getting started on Twitter by Scott Kirsner of The Boston Globe.
First you need an objective. Signing up to a bunch of social media systems isn’t automatically going to turn you into a media star. You need to have a plan, as Facebook, Twitter, etc. are just tools.
I couldn’t agree more — That’s where the branding comes in. Who you are online is as important as who you are everywhere else.