Digital Biographer™

10 Simple Ways to Improve Your Interpersonal Savvy is an original piece from Seiden Leadership . Here’s a cliche you’re probably familiar with: give a child a toy and he ditches it for the box it came in. (Apparently, the same is true for animals. In the video, I caught Lenny, my bulldog, after she had dumped all her toys out of the plastic box we keep them in so she could chomp on the box itself.) Now here’s something you’re probably not familiar with: as grown ups, our fascination with containers and boxes does not go away… the boxes just become less cardboard and more conceptual.

Times are changing. In the highly competitive marketplace, small and medium sized business entities (SMBs) veer away from the traditional to more creative and interactive approaches to doing business. Opportunities now spring from new markets, new consumer segments and new marketing tools exemplified by websites specifically business blogs. Understanding Business Blogs A blog, short for weblog, is a website in which journal-like entries called posts are written on an ongoing basis and displayed in reverse chronological order.

Twitter is a popular microblogging service that helps people worldwide to stay in touch online with the latest events, information and interactive websites. Anyone can use Twitter to share quick messages. Twitter users are permitted to share links to whatever they find interesting, to promote their business or just to write something about a current activity. These messages appear on the profile page, being accessible to your followers and searchable on Twitter search.

By CAREEREALISM-Approved Expert , Karen Siwak I have yet to meet a client who doesn’t have at least one fascinating story to tell. Whether it’s the Administrative Assistant who pulled her boss’s ass out of the fire through some exceptional behind-the-scenes public relations work, or the Operations Executive who orchestrated a pre-dawn helicopter evacuation of his expat employees, it’s the stories that make each of my clients “one of a kind”. And it’s the stories that energize my days and keep me passionate about my work.

var fbShare = {url: ‘http://blog.brand-yourself.com/2009/your-personal-brand-online/’,size:’large’}The hallmark of a visible personal brand online is the ability to be found … (more)

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CVMonolouges This article was originally written for Dan Schawbel’s Personal Branding Blog .  For most people there is one path to recognition, status and authority-slaving away, day in and day out, mastering a craft, drawing attention to achievements, and hoping that one day all that hard work will coalesce into a recognized personal brand. There is, however, the exception: the Accidental Personal Brand .

My last box of books was a huge success — I gave them away through my giveaway newsletter — so I thought I’d do it again (if you want a chance to win, be sure to sign up for my newsletter here — I’ll be giving them away in November.) For now, here are the books I’ve received from publishers and a bit about them (from Amazon): 25 Ways to Make College Pay Off: Advice for Anxious Parents from a Professor Who’s See It All  - In the next few years, parents can expect to spend more than $40,000 per year on their child’s college tuition.

Heather D. Maxwell, PhD Consumer Insight Networks, General Mills Inc. Former Tucker Center Research Assistant @DigitalMaxwell The recent Tucker Center Distinguished Lecture concerning social media is timely. The lecture panelists started the conversation from varying perspectives and addressed a key question—What does social media mean for women’s sport? Since I was able to attend the event and participate as an invited respondent the following morning at the event breakfast, I have some additional thoughts I’d like to contribute to the conversation.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nateperro/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 I’m plowing through the new Gary Vaynerchuk book “Crush It!” and really enjoyed his description of teamwork for business in Chapter 4, “a whole new world.” He uses an example of journalists, which I just happened to have been/to be. Vaynerchuk describes how top journalists in the new “personal brand” economy – enabled by low-to-zero-cost communications – could spin off to create their own successful content orgs.

The traditional, Paul Graham style of technology start-up is: Someone has an idea They try to validate their idea The idea is implemented The idea is communicated to the market While the importance of step 2 has always been emphasized the weakness of the above remains that the product may not gain significant visibility to the market. The products never reach critical mass and so they fade gradually into obscurity.

Pre-recess ion, there were articles ,  entire books , seminars and webinars devoted to how to change the workplace culture in order to make it more   Gen-Y  or  Millennial -friendly.  I even did a seminar once for a client on how to market to Millennials.  It was a hot topic.  Definitely, hard times have diminished the Millennial-centric workplace as a theme in pop-business culture.  However, I remember that one of the truths that was being bandied about regarding Gen-Y’s or Millennials was that they flourished in a team environment, in fact, they demanded it.  This was particularly interesting to me since I had done my thesis on the team player vs.

Susan Payton is the Managing Partner of Egg Marketing & Public Relations , an internet marketing firm specializing in blogger outreach, social media, and PR. She blogs at The Marketing Eggspert Blog , and teaches marketing courses at Marketing EggSchool . Follow her on Twitter @eggmarketing . Today it seems that no matter what industry you’re in, your competition is stronger than ever.

Susan Payton is the Managing Partner of Egg Marketing & Public Relations , an internet marketing firm specializing in blogger outreach, social media, and PR. Read the original post:HOW TO: Become an Expert in Your Industry

Susan Payton is the Managing Partner of Egg Marketing & Public Relations , an internet marketing firm specializing in blogger outreach, social media, and PR. She blogs at The Marketing Eggspert Blog , and teaches marketing courses at Marketing EggSchool . Follow her on Twitter @eggmarketing . Today it seems that no matter what industry you’re in, your competition is stronger than ever.

Susan Payton is the Managing Partner of Egg Marketing & Public Relations , an internet marketing firm specializing in blogger outreach, social media, and PR. She blogs at The Marketing Eggspert Blog , and teaches marketing courses at Marketing EggSchool . Follow her on Twitter @eggmarketing . Today it seems that no matter what industry you’re in, your competition is stronger than ever.

I couldn’t help but notice a link between two tweets that came in within a few seconds of each other. I don’t know the answers, but these are both awfully good questions. dan_mcweeney Sales people used to be the networks, leads. Now everyone has a community ( or should ) how does that change your business? then leashless RT @cheeky_geeky: “You’re not just hiring the person, you’re hiring the community they come with” – http://bit.ly/1zqZ9H (RT @jiconoclast) I have spoken about the New Patronage Economy – but the implications of personal brand networks can be both negative and positive.

Gary Vaynerchuk delivered a highly entertaining 15 minute “keynote” at last year’s Web 2.0 conference which is ostensibly about “how to build a personal brand” but is really about … (more)

Short of being a known serial killer who’s lost his Internet privileges, anyone can get introduced to you. Who is requesting your friendship? You’re probably on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, and otherwise connected in much less than six degrees to every soul on the planet, with more being born every day. Isn’t that why you’re building your personal brand? What do you make of these “connections” or offers of “friendship?” And, do you really feel “followed?” on Twttter? I’ve actually been followed in real life and they arrested the guy.

Over on the MS Advertising site , my friend Mel Carson has a great interview with Andrew Sampson – who discusses social media and his part in the Stephen Fry phenomenon.  Interesting interview which covers: How Andrew was inspired to set Stephen up. How they identified a social media need. How to balance content with different audiences. When to start monetizing and how to approach it. Being responsible with Social Media. Building your personal brand online.

Does social media make you more comfortable, or less comfortable? For me, it’s both. As my friend Amber Naslund said when I interviewed her on Twitter , social media enables her to have friends that are not dictated by geography or circumstance. And to me, the ability to find people with whom you have a kinship, regardless of where they live is an extraordinary opportunity. They say it takes a village to raise a child (or an adult), and the relationships I’ve developed via the social Web are incalculably helpful to me personally and in business.

Solid business decisions are based on good information, and in a constantly changing environment, that information has to be current. Enter Google Alerts, a quick and easy way to get you breaking news and regular updates on what’s happening in your industry. To get started, simply go to the Google Alerts page. Google Alerts automatically searches for your keywords You can enter any keyword, or combination of keywords, and Google Alerts will automatically email you when new articles and resources are posted online that match your search queries.

I’m fascinated by SEO–the curious illusion I have in my head about the spider that crawls through the system, back and forth between laptop and computer, desperately looking for some pattern or connection worthy of his time. I knew from the very beginning that this forum, stinkwallet, would most likely become a muddled mess of confusion.  Like my very brain, I imagined this place to be a raucous of thoughts, pictures, and useless tidbits of information.

On Tuesday afternoon, I went over to Elliott Bay Books to check out Gary Vaynerchuk while he stopped by to talk about his new book, “Crush It.” As usual, his enthusiasm and positive energy was infectious. In fact, the first thing I did when I got home was read the entire book cover to cover and here’s what I learned: if you squeezed Gary until he became an oozing liquid, and then you sopped up his essence with a bunch blank pages, you’d end up with this book (and it would taste nice with a glass of Petit Verdot).

Be The Best! This question was submitted by Merry who wants to know “how to become the best business analyst in a competitive business analyst job market.” If you need help with a Question or Challenge , be sure to ask it as a comment on this page and I will answer it fully just as I am answering Merry’s questions below! Here is Merry’s Question on Becoming The Best Business Analyst Hi I recently graduated from university with a BSc degree in Computer Science.

Attend my free Authors Guide to Helping Readers Change teleseminar call and be among the first to receive copies of my latest series of writing worksheets. The call takes place Tuesday, October 27, at 4:00 PM EST . During the first 45 minutes of the call, I’ll be describing how authors can writer faster and better using worksheets like my new Reader Identification Worksheet and Reader Change Planner to plan before you write ! I’ll also describe how attendees can download copies of the new worksheets.

The following is a guest post by Veronica Fielding. As the unemployment rate rises, people are turning to social networking sites to make important business connections. Many recruiters post vacancies and search for passive candidates on LinkedIn. Facebook, one of the best-known social media sites on the Internet today, has become a valuable way of networking outside your circle. If you want to use social media to your advantage, it is important to create a professional “personal brand” for job hunting and networking online with Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.

More and more interview articles and career coaches will tell you that in order to do well in an interview – and to ultimately get the job offer – you must “Be Prepared.” Do you know how to prepare for your interview? “What does prepared for an interview look like?” “How can I make them I hire me?” “What if I’m not REALLY qualified or able to do this job?” “How do I know what they are going to ask?” These are common questions and concerns – but where do you find the answers? It IS a Tough Job Market You realize that you are competing against the odds.

Contributed by: Roger C. Parker In the first two parts of this series, I’ve discussed the importance of creating a content plan for your blog and selecting the days your weekly blog posts will appear. Now, I’d like to discuss the importance of choosing categories of information for your weekly blog posts. Different information for different days A successful blog content plan specifies different categories of information for weekly blog posts scheduled on different days of the week.

Do brands need an online personality? Does it have a single voice, or multiple voices? Can you mix the personal and the professional? Does the conversation need to be unique to a social media platform? These are some of the observations from this afternoon’s Media140 panel debate. “ All brands have a personality “. (Kuss) “Social media is full of fake, full of fail” – a strong culture can give a strong brand personality ( a la Innocent Drinks) but not all companies have a strong culture or brand.

It’s a brand new week, which means it’s time for Mashable’s guide to upcoming social media and web events, parties, and conferences. For more upcoming event listings, check out Mashable’s Events section . Is your event not on this list? Contact us at least one month before your event and let’s establish a media partnership. Mashable’s Weekly Social Media and Marketing Event Guide is proudly supported by Eventbrite , the Web’s Event Marketplace.

Dan Schawbel is one of the authorities on the topic of personal branding, particularly for the Millennial generation. I am happy to serve as a co-editor of Personal Branding Magazine . The new sample issue is available. This is how Dan describes it: Summary: Personal Branding Magazine Volume 3, Issue 2 is about brand reinvention through social media and what better example of that than MC Hammer.  Hammer, a celebrity hip-hop star, sold millions of albums back in the 80’s.  Decades later, Hammer is now one of the front men for the social media movement.  He has his multi-million Twitter following and his own social network to keep in touch with his old fans.

Supermodel Kate Moss �s fragrance, titled Vintage by Kate Moss, went on sale in September, but the company has only sent us artwork and a video today. The print advertisement has a 1920s� to 1930s� feel, while the fragrance itself has fruity and �oriental notes. The print ad was shot by Mert and Marcus, featuring Moss inside a 6 ft replica of the Vintage bottle. Below videos feature the 30-second advertisement, but the second has a behind-the-scenes segment.

Who says you have to have a Park Avenue address in New York City to publish a magazine? Few examples reflect the changes taking place in publishing as well as Dan Schawbel’s Personal Branding Magazine . I just sampled the November issue , and discovered it was filled with genuinely helpful advice from a Who’s Who of social marketing and personal branding experts, as well as interviews with branded personalities like MC Hammer.

Supermodel Kate Moss’s fragrance, titled Vintage by Kate Moss, went on sale in September, but the company has only sent us artwork and a video today. The print advertisement has a 1920s’ to 1930s’ feel, while the fragrance itself has fruity and ?oriental notes.    The print ad was shot by Mert and Marcus, featuring Moss inside a 6 ft replica of the Vintage bottle.    Below videos feature the 30-second advertisement and a behind-the-scenes segment. The TVC was created by leading British artist and photographer Katerina Jebb.

Big shifts are taking place personally. They’re sure to affect the direction and content on Brainzooming™, and it’s appropriate to let you know what’s happening. For the past five years, I’ve been working a personal branding plan designed to grow my network, increase learning, and build a stronger presentation and writing repertoire.

When’s the last time you bought a book for full price? Straight up walked into a local bookstore and shelled out $19.99 or $24.99? If you’re like me, it’s a rare experience. So it was quite unusual that this weekend I bought two new books, and on topics that I’ve been learning enough about free that I hardly needed them. Yes, I went totally fanboy this weekend when I found out that two social media luminaries were in town. I bought marketing blogger Chris Brogan’s Trust Agents and headed down to a tweetup in San Jose to meet him and get it signed.

When people started blogging a few years ago, it was mostly because they loved doing it. Now, in many cases, it’s a box to check off on your online marketing plan. Even many photographers who enjoy blogging wonder if the effort is worth it with all the other demands on our time. With this in mind, I’ve compiled seven tips for ensuring your blog is worth the effort that a good blog requires — helping you build your personal brand and grow your photography business. 1.

Chad OchoCinco is going to create his own NFL breaking news network on Twitter, leveraging his contacts within the league and technology from Motorola. Mr. OchoCinco is convinced he can cut out the middle man, becoming the “inside source” for timely NFL news, such as injury updates. Here’s a link to the ESPN story. My take: Now, I have always been a fan of OchoCinco. Somehow, he has made blatant self-promotion entertaining. Say what you will, but I think that he is an athlete who uses social media better than anybody else.

A top position in search engines means more traffic, more sales and more profits. Like any project, initial planning is crucial for success. In order to increase Google traffic, it’s needed more than adding some uninspired pictures on a text page. As in any project, setting objectives that must be served and supported by the company’s website is the first decision in supply chain design. Whatever are the changes that will occur during the project, setting the fundamental goals is crucial.

Here are a few key quotes from the book:  “Act it until you are It” “Fear is mostly about ignorance ” “It’s essential that you get stuff done, meaningful stuff – do what it takes to get the results you want. Be ruthless about meeting the right people. ” “Ideas are a dime a dozen, people that implement them are priceless” – Mary Kay Ash Get your GSD – Getting Stuff Done 1) Rock Responsibility – take 100% responsibility for your life 2) Get Visual – set goals, and make

Become Your Inner Hero! Randall Jones, founder of Worth Magazine and author of The Richest Man in Town, says that in regard to Personal Branding, “the most successful , wealthy people had very successfully branded themselves in relation their industry” . In an interview by Dan Schwabel, Randall says that all RMITs (Richest Man In Town) have found their “perfect pitch”- the thing that they are most personally gifted at doing and secondarily they have found a way to monetize their perfect pitches “; Click here to read the rest of the interview The key is to find, what Jones calls, your ” perfect pitch ” …

With over 300 million users , Facebook is undeniably one of the best places to keep in touch with friends, and one of the reasons it’s so popular are its applications. Most of Facebook’s user-favorite features, like its massively popular photo sharing, video sharing, user groups, or events functionality, are powered by applications. These core apps come installed by default on every user’s profile and cannot be removed. But Facebook is also home to over 350,000 other applications created by thousands of third-party developers across the world.

With over 300 million users , Facebook is undeniably one of the best places to keep in touch with friends, and one of the reasons it’s so popular are its applications. Most of Facebook’s user-favorite features, like its massively popular photo sharing, video sharing, user groups, or events functionality, are powered by applications. These core apps come installed by default on every user’s profile and cannot be removed. But Facebook is also home to over 350,000 other applications created by thousands of third-party developers across the world.

Undoubtedly, Chris is a popular guy. He’s speaking here, blogging there, writing most likely everywhere, and promoting his book from here *to* there.  He’s often referenced, lauded, and criticized all over the social media landscape. And I hear he can’t attend an event without being glommed by those who just want to share his cool kid space.  At SXSW earlier this year I caught glimpses (may have even been at the same soiree once), but was too much of a fraidy-cat to say hello.

As you know human beings have an incredible variety of ways to express ourselves. We have the written word, verbal communication, body language, facial expressions, gestures, visually, artistically…the list goes on and on. Another way we express ourselves is through the clothing we wear. Now before you say “what is this daft woman on about?”. Think about it. What could possibly be more personal than our clothing? We choose it. We wear it. Every time we get dressed in the morning we are saying to people “this is who I am”.

Be helpful Personal Branding: You’ve defined your ideal target – now how do you make a connection? You’ve defined your unique personal brand, and now you’re focused on your specific target audience: those people who need to hear about you to make you wildly successful.  You’ve not only made a list of the general audience, but you’ve written down specific names of those people you want to reach.

What’s up? If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to my RSS feed to ensure you don’t miss any good stuff here.Powered by WP Greet BoxAs I wrote in the previous post, blog commenting is very effective tactic to build your personal brand, get some back links and drive traffic back to your blog while at it.Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere 2009 study showed, bloggers use approximately 3 hours a week commenting on blogs, which is quite substantial.

Welcome to the first ever MetaSpring Blog Carnival ! Over the last few weeks, we asked our readers to submit their favorite blog posts for inclusion in our new monthly Blog Carnival and we received a ton of great submissions – much thanks to everyone who participated! For our first Carnival, we thought we’d keep it varied, so the following batch of posts span across the topics of link building, web design and development, social media and search engine optimization.

Yes, this is a fact. Not everyone will follow you on Twitter. Not everyone cares what you have to say, think, feel, am or doing. It’s not as bad as it sounds, but we need to get off the entitlement that everyone cares about what you think. One fatal flaw in this is if you are relevant and actually care about the people care about you.Stop caring what others think of you. If you stopped caring what people think, the less you’ll look at the number of followers on Twitter. Followers are just numbers.

Welcome to Inside the Success the show that takes you on the inside of entrepreneurs, professionals, and industry experts from all walks of life. This quote was taken from 4 Secrets to Small Business Success , What company comes to mind when you hear “We love to see you smile?” What about, “Just do it?” These are themes associated with company brands. You can have that same power but it doesn’t come over night. It’s something you have to build piece by piece consistently.

Mike Walsh Trailer from Mike Walsh on Vimeo . Catching up on some reading, I loved a recent post from strategist, speaker and author,  Mike Walsh , Be Sweet, Please Retweet . If you’re learning how to build brand relationships with social media it’s well worth the reading. If you don’t have time, a couple of Mike’s points really stand out for me: Broadcast networks now compete with ‘audience networks’ “On the Internet, there is no concept of prime-time.

When we are talking about building your own career, there is nothing more personal to you than your own blog.  When you are working for a company, there are many different kinds of situations which may cause you to leave or to stay temporarily.  But as you are building your career in the “real world”, you can start picking up your working knowledge and build them into useful information around your own blog in the “virtual world”.

Above left Nicole Richie has already dabbled in design, namely with maternity wear. Above right Heidi Klum is set to add footwear to her already diverse portfolio. Two celebrities are reportedly starting fashion lines this week. First, Nicole Richie, who has recently done a jewellery collection and, for A Pea in a Pod, a maternity-wear line, has told Women’s Wear Daily that she will do a contemporary collection called Winter Kate. The pricing will be in the middle of the market.

The subject of personal branding has been coming up recently with my clients. I’m noticing more of a need for solo-professionals to brand their identity and image. With the way the economy has shifted in the past year, a strong personal brand is needed more than ever. It used to be okay to be general and undifferentiated, but not any more. You need a clear, compelling message and a strong brand to capture people’s attention quickly. And, you need ongoing branded communication to hold their attention.

As a newcomer to an organization, there are always obstacles to hurdle; learning names, where to put out-going mail, possibly even how many creamers the boss likes in their coffee. … (more)

Mourning is just extended self-pity. – Donald Draper Credit: Stu Sherman I let a domain expire yesterday. It was one of the first domains I ever registered — possibly the second or third. It was also the domain for the second blog I ever really invested any serious time or energy into. It wasn’t a very focused blog. It didn’t really have a niche or a topic. It was founded on the belief that my reckless charm would catapult me to internet stardom. Well, it never really got me there.

The hype around social media as conversation has become deafening. Much of the hyperbole comes from agencies and consultants who have seized upon social media as the next wave; their motivation is self-serving, of course. Promoting their credentials as social media experts enables them to attract clients, launch new projects and grow revenues. Still more hyperbole comes from pundits seeking to grow their audience for blogs, speaking engagements, books they’ve authored, podcasts, etc.

The old model of networking is all about assertiveness and hustle. Push to get the meeting; push to deliver your pitch. Push, push, push. The new model of networking is all about listening and giving. Less about the business card, less about what you need, and a whole lot more about what you can provide. Why do we network? We network to find support, whatever our enterprise may be. Sometimes that support is financial, sometimes it’s an implementation partner, sometimes it’s something entirely different.