I'm pulling this article from today's Mashable.com feed because I felt it had a lot of great things for people to know. If you want to see the actual article, click here... It's a great read for today's environment to make sure your brand is good in the market place.
10 Ways Personal Branding Can Save You From Getting Fired
Posted: 10 Dec 2008 08:03 AM PST
Dan Schawbel is the author of Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, April 09), a Social Media Specialist at EMC Corporation, and owner of the award winning Personal Branding Blog.
Instead of scaring you with the harsh reality of the economy, I would much rather give you hope and advice on how to tackle it head on! The solution I’m proposing is “personal branding,” which is the process by which we market ourselves to others.
As a Mashable reader and social media connoisseur, realize that the difference between the branding of the past, and that of the present, is that social media has handed you the keys and a microphone to your future success. What I mean is that you are empowered, and are given the opportunity to let your voice be heard, at the cost of your time. OK, now for the tips:
1. Become an invaluable asset to your colleagues, professional network & clients
The first people who get laid off are the ones that are not needed for business to be conducted. If the business depends on your services and expertise, then you will, more than likely, remain in your current position, despite the economic climate.
As a social networker, you need to keep in touch with your friends, family and business contacts and provide them with any resources or help possible. As a business owner, it’s your job to convince your clients that they are benefiting from your services and are getting good ROI. The best way to keep in touch with your network is to import your contacts into LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, so you can provide them with valuable information over time.
2. Position yourself as the go-to-person for a specific skill
When it comes to branding, you want to own a word or phrase in the minds of others. It’s also beneficial to be someone that gets called upon when a specific need arises. A lot of young adults are branded as technically proficient, partially due to being raised in a sea of computer wires. Have you ever been asked to help someone in the office with a computer program?
Start letting people know what you’re good at and you will increase your value, which will increase the chance you survive the recession. Use a blog to position yourself as an expert in your field and people will be magnetically attracted to the information that is flowing out of each post you write.
3. Gain self-confidence and rise to the occasion
The worst thing you can do during a recession is lose faith, be uncertain and show it emotionally on the outside. An individual’s success or failure lies in their mental state. Those who are confident in their own abilities, skills, internal network and the future, will survive and thrive during a period of economic struggle. If you see an opportunity, go and grab it.
You need to be branded as a go-getter so people trust you with more work and are assured of the outcome. It’s in your best interests not to post negative status messages on your social networks. The web is public, and many people are connected to management, so attracting the wrong attention won’t work in your favor.
4. Focus on social equity, not just monetary equity
During a recession, many people choose to focus on every penny they have. They save money, instead of spending it (of course). The issue is that you come off as “cheap,” which will hurt your brand image. Also, people divest or don’t put much energy into building social equity (relationships/strong network), but rather monetary equity. This is a problem because money can’t really get you another job if you’re laid off, but your network can.
On the web, social equity is viewable through the amount of content you produce on your blog, or the amount of engagement you have on social networks. Over time, this equity begins to become a valuable asset to your career.
5. Build contact lists before you need them
I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “build a network before you need it.” Well, today I’m offering you a social media strategy if you ever need to recover from being laid off. If you create a blog, join social networks, create a database of your network and possibly start an email newsletter; you are in effect establishing lists.
I speak with a lot of people who get jobs by notifying these “lists” that they just got laid off and are interested in a specific position. The key here is to build these lists out (RSS subscribers, Twitter followers, Facebook friends) before you need them. Then, you have a whole pool of people that can help you out. All it takes is one person from that list to get you back in the game!
6. Go on a branding spree by advertising it everywhere
Your brand needs to be where people are searching, especially where your unique audience is searching. I don’t think it’s revolutionary that you brand yourself on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, but I would like to offer you a few other sites that may connect you with other passionate and ambitious brands, such as VisualCV.com and Jobfox.com.
I think it’s imperative that you advertise your brand on the “old skool” job boards as well, including Monster, Careerbuilder and Yahoo! Hotjobs.
7. Make your brand so visible that people can’t avoid seeing you
When you admire some of the most successful personal branders on the Internet, like a Robert Scoble and a Pete Cashmore, one thing remains consistent: they are everywhere! This works in their favor because people remember them. If they were everywhere, but didn’t have credibility, a reputation or strong backing, then it might not have a great impact on you.
You need to not only advertise your brand on social networks, but comment on blogs, join forums and Facebook pages, as well as write articles for other blogs. If you aren’t already famous, then use the same avatar on all your social networking sites and keep your bio consistent, to the point and with links to your other sites. Make your name and face travel and see some great results.
8. Become so remarkable that complete strangers talk about you
When you were growing up, and maybe even right now, people talked about you behind your back. These were typically people who you knew and maybe didn’t like. Well, in the age of web 2.0, you can visualize and track these conversations, from blog to blog and profile to profile. If you have a loud enough voice and take a stand on a topic, you can be a brand that is spoken about by people you may not even know. These individuals might actually be able to pull you into a new opportunity at some point.
9. Be a content producer, not just a consumer
It’s really easy to brand yourself an innocent observer. The problem is that consumers aren’t sharing any value with the world, while producers are building value in themselves and getting their ideas noticed. Try and start a podcast series or write a blog about what you love. Something you’re really passionate about, whether it be work or play. People will begin to notice and be drawn to your brand. Being a producer is much more rewarding, and it causes your network to flourish, thus positioning your brand for career success.
10. Have an “endorsement mindset”
Last but not least, and possibly one of the most important things to keep in mind, is the power of positive endorsements. Collect endorsements throughout your life like you would collect baseball cards. You are the chief marketing officer for the brand called you, but what others say about your brand is more impactful than what you say about yourself.
On LinkedIn, give other people endorsements and you will notice that many will return the favor. If you’ve had blog commenters or people write about you, ask them to use their comments on your blog. Endorsements will prove your worth, allow you to market yourself into a new job or rise in the ranks in your current job.
Imagery courtesy of iStockPhoto, hidesy, MiquelMunill, Sveta
David Spark (
6. De-friending can regress mature women into a high school gossip mob
10. I’m ok with your race and religion, but not your political beliefs 
