The importance of personal branding in today's digital world and how to leverage WordPress to better tell your story. Cliff’s notes and a recording of the presentation available at: http://ben.balter.com/2011/03/09/craft-your-personal-brand/
29. New Hotness People as a product (PaaP) Plant a flag on your corner of the Internet Take control of your online identity
30. For the Developers, that’s: //establish brand elements $brand = array( ‘name’ => ’Benjamin J. Balter’, ‘photo’ => ’http://cdn.benbalter.com/wp-content/uploads/ 2010/09/suit.jpg’, ‘bio’ => ‘J.D./M.B.A. Candidate, New Media Fanatic, Documentary Junkie’, ); //loop and add user meta foreach( $brandas $key => value ) add_user_meta( $id, $key, $value, true );
37. How To Grab your Domain Describe Yourself Start a Blog Be Social Give Your Resume an Upgrade
38. Grab Your Domain The .Org Route Grab some shared hosting space DownloadWordPress from WordPress.org2 Install and Configure Cost: ~$75 / year The .Com Route Register for WordPress.com and create a site1 In your Dashboard, navigate to Upgrades -> Domains Register your Domain Cost: $17 / year Free as in beer. Free as in speech.
39. Describe Yourself What makes you different? Find the big things that define you Mind map Word cloud Work backwards Ask your friends Just sit down and write
59. Start a Blog Express yourself Add value to the blogosphere Find topics you are passionate about Have a strong opinion Engage others in your network Share your work
60. Blogging Basics Pretty Permalinks! Prune your slugs Tag, Tag, Tag (and categories) Hand craft excerpts
61. The Nuts and Bolts All in one SEO Pack (Torbert) Google XML Sitemaps (Brachhold) Google Analytics for WordPress (Joost) Simple Facebook Connect (Otto) Simple Twitter Connect (Otto) Subscribe to Comments (Jaquith) For Geeks: Syntax Highlighter For Journos: Emphasis
62.
63. Be Social Be consistent Be on message Be tactful in your self-promotion Be linking to your fancy new site Be contactable
64. Upgrade Your Resume Grab a plugin or throw it into a page Link to relevant content Same rules apply to resumes online Concise, easily skimable Situation, action, result Use the keywords employers will be looking for Make sure your site is featured prominently on your resume
65. Next Steps Calling cards with QR code Networking (online and off) Digitize your portfolio Evaluate and refine Site’s Look and Feel Advertise Vanity URL Shortener Establish a Board of Directors
67. The Four P’s ProductYou, your ideas, your unique skillset PlaceYour site, your social networks Price What is the cost of following you? PromotionHow do you promote yourself?
68. SWOT Analysis Strength DC’s best WordPress coder Weakness DC’s worst graphic designer Opportunity Going to SXSW next week Threat Drupal.
69. Other Considerations Targeting Who visits? Brand Loyalty Do they care? Brand Extensions Do I have Partners? Promotion Stickiness Am I Catchy?
70. Additional Resources The Brand Called You, Tom Peters, Fast Company, Aug. 31, 1997 The Brand You 50, Tom Peters Never Eat Alone, Keith Ferrazzi The WordPressCodex The Internet
71. Photo Credits Product logos courtesy captcreatehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/27845211@N02/2616906744/ WordPressGuy123 courtesy d_vdmhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/d_vdm/520785351/ Generic coffee courtesy librarymanhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/libraryman/109470649/ Starbucks cup courtesy patrick_qhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/patrick_q/250746594/ Tap water courtesy joeshlabotnikhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/joeshlabotnik/2881872151/ Bottled water courtesy sskennehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/sskennel/4818299373/ Coca-Cola can courtesy s0mphohttp://www.flickr.com/photos/s0mpho/2005550103/ All photos used under a Creative Commons License
72. Photo Credits Geek Squad courtesy leonarchienhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/leonardchien/3385270752/ Disneyworld courtesy expressmonorailhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/expressmonorail/4538390020/ Biebercortesydanagonazleshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/danagonzales/5480900854/ Obama poster courtesy anthonybakerhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/anthonybaker/2228158870/ Modem courtesy markusramhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/markusram/3479962160/ Anonymous user courtesy stianeikelandhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/stianeikeland/3696386615/ Mullet courtesy kennyfergusonhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/kennyferguson/12404708/ All photos used under a Creative Commons License
73. Benjamin J. Balter webBen.Balter.com emailBen@Balter.com twitter @BenBalter
Notas do Editor
17 Year OldNaples FloridaAmateur Golfer
If you Google’d my name, this is all you would see. Some punk kid from Florida.
Your move “Ben Balter”
Passionate about the power of digital communication to shape how people interactNew Media at FCC, previously political communications
Survey: Who has a website? Under their own name? Under their own domain? Blog? Bio? Brand?Coke, Apple, WordPress… All BrandsImportant stuff: value of Brand is actually reflected on Balance Sheet at time of sale
Feeling, emotions, experiences, trust…
Product
Service
Experience
Person
Campaign
Idea
You’ve all just been hired as the CMO of brand you
In the olden days, people used to be scared to put personal information onlineThey felt the need to be pseudo-anonymous through psuedonyms (think SparklePrincess87)
Life online was distinct from life offline
Case in Point
As more of our analog lives become digitized, need for a second identity is diminished.No longer anonymous screen names, but rather our selvesCauses: Social Networking (real name on FB, LinkedIn, Twitter), Mobile (computer comes with me into the real world), etc.Radical Transparency; lifecasting proves (4square, pictures of food)See this in QR codes
Clothes, hair, gym, breath, etc. translate online
Shift from corporate brand association (lifetime IBM employee) to Personal BrandDeclare to the world who you are / Tell your story
Whether you realize it or not, you already have a brandUnlike in the real world where you are the only one in control of what you say, online, content has a life of its own
If you don’t brand yourself, other will do it for you (mac v. PC)
Friends /ColleaguesContacts in your Network (Favorite Journalist/Designer/Developer/Blogger) Opens doors (Documentary -> Groupon)Employers / ClientsGoal is to create a cohesive, accurate digital representation of you (think of it as having incorrect or incomplete grades on your transcript)
Differentiate from the competitionIf you’re here, you are ahead of the curveShow that you’re tech savvy, creative, and self-confident
Wordpress is nothing without content
Vanity Domain -> SEO++Your name, not your pseudonym (if you have a cooking blog, great, that doesn’t count)Literally, your own address on the InternetBonus Points: E-mail (GAFYD)
Keep SEO in MindCraft a personal narrative; tell your story to the world-> Deliverable
“Mullet” BioBusiness up front, all play in the backShow, don’t tell (I am a talented web developer vs. I love making websites that make customers say “wow”)Show personality, this isn’t a cover letter or chance to paraphrase your resumeShort up front, long in the backTwitter, Blog Bio, About me Page
Out of the box, WP gives you nine chances to brand before you user’s even clicked or scrolled
Keywords -> SEO++Create original contentGive people a reason to come backRSS Reader -> IdeasSet a schedule/Goal
Reverse pyramid, active voice, linking to relevant sources, etc.Tags -> Feedback
GA -> What works, what doesn’t
Resume has been viewed by 3,500 unique visitors since I put it online in September.Most people’s resume’s aren’t viewed by 3,500 people in their life.
This room provides a perfect opportunity for synergy.Journos know how to craft a personal narrative, geeks know how to broadcast it to the worldIf you’ve showed in the past week, find someone who hasn’t and exchange info