We recently spoke with a group of Public Relations students at American University in Washington, D.C. about their personal and professional brands.

1. Your “Profersonal™” Brand
How blending your personal and professional
identities can impact your career
Melanie Batenchuk, Director | February 23, 2012
Please note: The author received permission from Jason Seiden to use profersonal™ in this presentation.

2. What IS „profersonal‟ anyway?
• Profersonal™ is a term coined by Jason Seiden,
co-founder of Ajax Social Media and author of this
Blog is Profersonal™.
• Urbandictionary.com defines it as: “something
used to serve both professional & personal
needs.”
• It is blending your personal and professional
brands.
• It is the essence of social media.
Q: What‟s your version of profersonal™?

3. About Me – Melanie Batenchuk
What (I think) makes me interesting…
• Director at Beekeeper Group
• Owner and Editor of Be Car Chic
• Board Director of Washington
Automotive Press Association
• PACs, Politics & Grassroots Taskforce Co-chair for
Women in Government Relations
• Violinist with Symphony Orchestra of Arlington
• Social media and communications strategist
• Specializing in the auto industry as a woman

4. How I got started – It was all by accident!
• Became intrigued by social media – wanted to know more
• When my employer wasn‟t ready to enter social media, I
decided to experiment on my own
• Began building my own personal online community relating
to my work

5. Professional & Personal – How They Blend
Professional vs. Personal
Your job Your friends
Your colleagues Your spare time
People you meet Social networking
Groups & Your passion &
associations interests

6. Social Media – The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
5 Key Tenets for your Social Media Success
Remember…
• Too much of personal or professional can be a bad thing
• Separate social media accounts isn‟t the solution to
„saying whatever you want‟
• Remember: it‟s about quality and not quantity
• Talk about what you know and what you love
• Engaging online requires both initiative & responsibility

7. Social Media – The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
Social media: when it‟s good, it‟s great
• Building rapport within your community
• Growing an online support group
• Adding credibility to you and your company
• Connecting with like-minded others regardless of their
geographical location
• Connecting with thought leaders and online influencers
whose path you may never have crossed in person
• Taking online relationships offline

8. Social Media – The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
What social media giveth, it can taketh away…
• Getting too personal or too political
• Oversharing (it‟s an epidemic – even when you‟re older)
• Badmouthing employers, coworkers, clients – anyone!
• Having unwanted information about you online
• Ruining your reputation, or tarnishing your company‟s
reputation
• Creating an Internet firestorm and losing your job

9. What makes you passionate?
It‟s time to THINK!
Here are some questions to ask yourself:
• What do I love to do in my spare time?
• Which subjects am I more
knowledgeable about than my friends?
• About what topics do I never tire of
reading?
• What would my dream job be?

10. What makes you passionate?
Now that you‟ve figured it out…
Here‟s what you do:
• Get involved with organizations that cater
to your passion
• Bring your thoughts and opinions to the
table
• Network, network, network
• Develop an online presence, particularly
a social media one surrounding all of the
above

11. Final Thoughts
Things that make you go hmmm…
According to Jason Seiden, individuals should periodically
review the company they keep and weed out the
unnecessary.
“When your network is defined by you, and you have
total control over the people you interact with…then you
lose the excuse to have a lot of noise in your network. ”

12. THANK YOU!

13. Stay in touch!
Melanie Batenchuk, Director
Beekeeper Group
Email: melanieb@beekeepergroup.com
Blog: http://becarchic.com
Twitter: @beekeepergroup
@CarChickMWB and @BeCarChic