Technology Public Relations Consultant, Alan Weinkrantz, presents his views on how to approach the first steps in building your personal brand. For the purpose of this presentation, it's based on building your personal brand starting with being at Geekdom. For non-Geekdom members, the same principles apply.

1. PERSONAL BRANDING
September 10, 2013

2. BEFORE WE START...
•Discussion is not “how to.”
•It’s based on belief sets.
•Don’t do what I do.
•Do what feels right to you.
•And what fits your personal style and personality.

3. WHAT I BELIEVE
•Like minded people find and discover each other.
•When you put your voice out there, you’re more than likely to....
•be discovered
•connect
•create something new

4. “Personal branding should be aimed
not at self-promotion, but to connect
with the people you know, and being
discovered by those you attract...”

16. START HERE...
•In the context of Geekdom
•Enables you to give back in an easy and fun way
•Let’s you experiment in a human lab
•Intent is to go broader in other areas of your brand

17. TODAY....
•Two fold objective:
•help you master the art of personal branding in the context of
where you create and get things done
•use Geekdom as a place to try this out and experiment
•help promote the Geekdom brand from the perspective of its
community members

18. YOU & GEEKDOM
•Are
•brands
•stories
•a work in progress
•Ambassadors for each other’s brand
I’m a big deal
at Geekdom:)

19. YOU ARE A BRAND
•Be it as a solo gig or as a team, you are in your own right, a brand
•The environment of Geekdom, the surroundings of downtown and
the things you do in your work can help define and grow your
influence and thought leadership on the social web

20. WHY
•Geekdom is on the rise...
•This is your opportunity to associate your personal brand with a
brand that could help you think about how you are branding yourself
•Opportunity to grow your business around the world
•Being “discovered”

21. WTF?
•This is a distraction
•I am too busy working
•I can’t take on more work
•External to work, I have a life

22. HOW DO I BENEFIT?
•Gets you in the mindset of personal branding
•Associates yourself with the Geekdom brand
•Cross pollenates your personal brand with your team
•Helps your fellow Geekdom community members
•Could bring in new community members through your story telling

23. PART OFYOUR DAILY FLOW
•Your smart phone is your friend
•Open your eyes and ears and see what’s around you for easy story
telling
•The collaborative nature of Geekdom inherently lends itself to this
process
•A good way to connect with people you may not know
•A good way to build deeper relationships - this is not always about
business

24. I DON’T KNOW BRANDING
•Just be you
•Share who you are
•Discover your surroundings with writing, photos, videos...
I’m
awesome

25. TIMING
•Now through December, the weather is perfect for this
•Go, discover downtown
•Lots of funky dives, dumps, joints and street people that makes San
Antonio very unique
•Great buildings, street signs, foods, bridges

26. 1 + 1
When you are here.....

27. ONE “THING” PER DAY
•Shout out to a team member
•Photo of an object on the floor
•Go for a walk on the Riverwalk and share the moment
•Knock on your neighbor’s door and do an interview
•Write a blog post
•Do a Facebook entry

28. WHERETO START?
•A few basics
•Pick a few obvious platforms -Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, G+,
Foursquare
•Check in daily
•Share one thing per day....

29. weston
center
r
i
v
e
r
w
a
l
k
funky buildings
Discover the building and your surroundings....
foods
people
transportation
architecture
fun
culture
rand
building

30. IFYOUTRAVEL....
•On business and on vacation...wave back to your peers
•Shout out to your team
•Root for theTechStars Cloud teams when they are in residence
•Wear your GeekdomT-shirt and photograph yourself at recognizable
landmarks
•Wear your startup’sT-shirt and photograph yourself at recognizable
landmarks

31. SHOWYOUR SUPPORT
•Show the folks on the Geekdom staff some love
•Thank the local media when they cover Geekdom
•Thank the speakers who share their insights during programs
•High five your peers when they have a win, get funding, a major
customer, or a big contract
•Promote new programming
•Welcome new community members as you meet

32. StoryTelling With Instagram...

36. THE WESTON CENTER
•The building itself
•Lobby area - chairs, decorations, artwork, walkways, waterfall
•Restaurant
•Piano man
•Events & classes
•10th & 11 floor + the Rand Building in the works....
•Geekdom signage, collateral material, seminar handouts...

37. share and
promote your
community
members’
content, music,
photos,
documents, etc.

38. Geekdom has tons of
cool images you can
create that surround
the environment we
work in

39. Classy Joint:
Geekdom.... I
approach the
Weston Centre
as an
infrastructure to
Geekdom

40. geekdom you
institution humanity
Your personal branding helps humanize the Geekdom
experience and the persona of its community members
your voice really matters and contributes
we are
one :)

41. WIN & WIN
•Aimed to help you think about your personal brand
•Helps raise awareness of the awesomeness of the Geekdom
experience
•The process could open new opportunities for you personally and
with your team

42. START SLOW...
•Become aware of your surroundings
•Experiment and build your voice
•Meet, connect with someone new on the floor
•Take a stranger for a walk and share the experience
•Friend & connect with the community
•A good way to say “thank you” to the Geekdom team

43. TAKE STOCK OFYOURSELF
•Expertise
•Hobbies
•Communities
•Fan of....
•Believe in...
•Contribute to...
the rise of humanity...

44. SUSTAIN
•Think in the long run
•Daily is ideal, but focus on building on what you are working, making,
creating
•A few check-ins / posts a week over the course of the balance of
2013 really adds up and helps you be discovered and shared
•The more you do this, the better you get at branding you and your
team
•The collective voice of the community will really impact

45. thank you....
alan@weinkrantz.com