Helen Standing's evenign guest lecture to Leeds Met's Faculty of Business and Law on social media and personal branding. Advice and tips on how to 'Power your personal brand' for 2013 by working smarter, not harder.

1. Social media and personal branding:
Power your personal brand for 2013
Helen Standing, Director, ngage Comms

2. A bit about me
• Masters in PR
• In-house, global consultancy and
small agency experience
• Outstanding Young Communicator /
PRWeek Top 29 Under 29
• CIPR regional Treasurer
• Founding Director, Engage Comms
• Part Time Lecturer, Leeds Met
• Love spending time with friends,
going to festivals, travelling and food!

3. The evolution of personal branding
• “Try not to become a *wo]man
of success, but a [wo]man of
value” (Einstein)
• "The reinvented you and the
reinvented me will have no
choice but to scramble and
add value in some meaningful
way” (Tom Peters)

4. Why bother with personal branding?
• When was the last time you Googled yourself?
Prospective employers and other professional
contacts will!
• Most career/personal development
opportunities aren’t advertised in traditional
ways – you have to find them!
• If you’re not visible, how do you expect to get
found?!?!

5. 2013: The year of the personal brand
• No longer a ‘job for life’ or ‘9 to 5’
as the norm
• Post-recession – ‘sink or swim
mentality’
• Bankers, MPs and phone hacking
journalists – increased focus on
individual accountability
• The social media revolution –
everyone’s a publisher

6. Doing your own PR
• Do your research and back up what you say
with evidence – it’s about who you know AND
what you know!
• Tailor yourself to the audience
• Be useful/of value to others – ‘what’s in it for
them?’ ‘So what?’ ‘Why would they care?’
• Be transparent, ethical, open, honest and
reliable
• CSR – give something back

7. Developing your personal brand strategy
• Define your professional and personal goals in
the short, medium, long term
• What is your niche? What do you have to offer
that is of interest to others?
• Who do you need to be visible to?
• What 3 words do you want them to think when
they come across you?
• How can you get noticed and be of value to
them?

8. My personal brand
• My personal and professional goals
– Be well respected and memorable as a
leading PR/comms professional in Yorks
– Maintain good work/life balance and
relationships
• How I want to be defined
– Curious: eager to soak up info and embrace
opportunities, versatile
– Energetic: passionate, sense of humour,
memorable
– Down-to-earth: transparent, straightforward

9. Building your online personal brand
• Come up with a personal brand statement that
focuses on your USPs – don’t try to be ‘all things
to all men’
• Choose which platforms/channels to set up
profiles on – make sure you are visible but focus
on what you can manage on an ongoing basis
• Adapt your persona/profile for different platforms
and audiences – but maintain some consistency
across the board
• Bring your brand to life using engaging
images/look and feel and add a personal touch!

10. Managing your online personal brand
• Work smarter, not harder
• Do your research – watch and listen, don’t just
talk!
• Stay at front of mind but don’t spam
• Be useful, polite, approachable and friendly – and
always think ‘what’s in it for them?’
• Be genuine and get across your personality – but
know where to draw the line when it’s public
• Ask questions and take part in conversations – but
only where you can add something meaningful

11. Content is king… so act like royalty!
• A strong personal brand is not just about
reputation – it’s about influence!
• You have to have something to say to get noticed
– but what you say has to be of VALUE
• It doesn’t have to be your original content – you
can share other people’s content to be useful
• Keeping your finger on the pulse – don’t
underestimate the power of social media as a
content research tool

12. The risks – how not to damage your
reputation
• Apply basic common sense and principles of
professional conduct and ethics
• Don’t be political, rude or negative and don’t
unnecessarily antagonise people
• Don’t use social media to ‘spam’ or sell
• It’s public/indelible – if you wouldn’t shout it in
the office/street, don’t publish it online!

13. Power your personal brand for 2013
• Ebook by Engage Comms –
coming soon on Amazon
• How to build and manage a
personal brand that will make
you stand out in 2013 by
working smarter, not harder
• Follow our blog and Twitter
account for updates

14. Let’s carry on the conversation!
@helenstanding / @engagecomms on Twitter
Find me and Engage Comms Ltd company page on LinkedIn
www.engagecomms.co.uk/blog
helen@engagecomms.co.uk