“Social media site just as much friend finder as brand-builder”. (Sevilla) This statement in the Calgary Herald caught my eye. Not long after, I attended a session at the University of Calgary (U of C) entitled Creating your Personal Brand. The session enlightened me to another aspect of our everyday world that is changing with technology.
“You are a brand. You are in charge of your brand. There is no single path to success. And there is no right way to create the brand called You. Except this: Start today. Or else.” (Peters)
What is a personal brand? Why is it important? Do I have a brand already? Do I really need one?
According to the speaker your brand can be many things- who you are, what you represent, but more importantly how you want to portray yourself to obtain a job and build your career. I learned how your brand can be built and communicated through your blog, social media presence and even the style of your resume. During the session, social media was the focus with outlets highlighted such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, which I had not heard of until the session.
Facebook was the only social media outlet that I was involved with and learning more about branding, I’m not sure anything on my page contributes to building mine. Anyone who looks at my page will see a love of travel as that is what all of my photos relate to. Except for a profile picture, I haven’t even added pictures from my recent wedding. My use of Facebook is purely social, to keep in touch with friends and see what they are up to. There is nothing about my career or that I am currently attending the U of C working on my masters. Does there need to be?
At the session, the speaker spoke a lot about Twitter in particular, so I decided to sign up. As I went through the set up, it asked me to start by following 5 tweeters. I couldn’t think of anyone I wanted to follow. I wasn’t sure anyone I knew was even on Twitter as I have never heard any friends or co-workers say they are. Being put on the spot, I couldn’t even think of people I didn’t know that I wanted to follow. Eventually I added the obvious- local news and sports: Global Calgary and the Calgary Flames. In the days following my Twitter initiation I added the three bloggers that I am following for this course. Looking at the three travel blogs and their tweets, their brand is easy to see. I wonder, is my blog contributing to my brand?
“It’s a new brand world.” (Peters)
Peters, T. (1997, August 31). The Brand Called You. Fast Company. Retrieved from http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/10/brandyou.html
Sevilla, G. C. (2012, January 31). The evolution of Facebook. Calgary Herald, p. B3.
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ReplyDeleteI wonder if having a brand (or beginning the initial stages of creating one) needs to be intrinsically driven, with individuals creating and branding themselves as a form of play? Thomas and Brown outline what a new ‘educational environment’ might look like in the 21st century – an environment (consisting of few to thousands of wikis, websites, databases and forums) that is constantly changing through individuals’ attempts at building, creating and participating in these massive networks (Thomas & Brown, p.106). The importance of keeping your brand up-to-date becomes paramount in a society that thrives upon continuous change and re-creation. In order to ‘keep up’ with the multitude of changes via social media, I wonder how an individual would find and dedicate the time and patience required to continuously update, change, create and recreate his/her brand if it was not considered a form of play? I am certain that once you become involved in the process, branding oneself through social media could be a valuable aspect for personal and professional growth. Right now, for me, it’s just a matter of knowing where to start and keeping up with the fast pace environments in which I would be attempting to create a brand for myself. It will be interesting to see if your path to self-branding will be influenced by your participation in Twitter and your Blog.
ReplyDeleteHappy Branding!
Great post Nancy! I just wanted to let you know that I was inspired by you to also sign up for a Twitter account. Like you, I never thought of my self as a "brand". I also never thought about making sure that I don't fall prey to identity theft by making sure you "own" your brand, as pointed out by Dr. Francis-Poscente. Signing up for a Twitter account at least makes me feel like I'm finally using my iPhone to some of it's capabilities :)
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