building brands online

Building Brands OnlineGiving Constituents the Creative Edge

Social media is online content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing technologies. At its most basic sense, social media is a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content.                                                    -Wikipedia, 2009

Examples of Social Media

Personal Branding

We all have• unique set of talents• marketable skills 

 Happy?• Work it!

 Unhappy?• Change it!

 Unsure• Define it!

Why Web 2.0?• Relevance

 • Strategic

 • Visibility

 • Immediate

 • Competitive

• Creative  • Personal

 • FREE!

LinkedIn

LinkedIn gives professionals, even the most hopeless wallflower, a painless way to follow the advice of every career

counselor: build a network.                                      -New York Times, June 2009

LinkedIn Answers

LinkedIn Groups

Facebook

Blogs• Be passionate!

 • Find your niche

 • Become a thought-leader

 • Comment on other blogs

 • Guest blogging

 • Interviewing

 • Blogroll

Twitter• Post frequently

 • CONNECT

 • Follow others

 • Direct message 

YouTube• Podcasting

 • Video Resumes

More Online Branding Strategies• Search Engine Optimization

 • Wikis

 • Slideshare

 • Avatars

 • Theme/logo

 • Be consistent!

Caution• Professional presence

 • Make SOCIAL networks private

 • Clean-up profiles

 • Avoid using unsavory language

 • Avoid negative comments

 • Use these Web 2.0 tools for

good, not evil!

Further ReadingPersonal Branding Blog, Dan Schawbelhttp://personalbrandingblog.com/ Starting and Maintaining a Personal Brand Onlinehttp://www.examiner.com/x-828-Entry-Level-Careers-Examiner~y2009m2d19-Starting-and-maintaining-a-personal-brand-online Looking for Leads in Unusual Placeshttp://blogs.wsj.com/laidoff/2009/02/18/looking-for-leads-in-unusual-places/?mod=rss_WSJBlog?mod=blogmod

Using Twitter for Job Search and Networkinghttp://sweetcareers.blogspot.com/2009/02/using-twitter-for-job-search-and.html 

Thank you!

Kelly Alice RobinsonCareer Information Services Manager

Boston College Career CenterSouthwell Hall

38 Commonwealth AvenueChestnut Hill, MA  02467

617.552.4768kelly.robinson@bc.edu / www.bc.edu/careers