Intro to Brand of You: Using Social for Personal Marketing

Companies large and small have begun to make significant investments in social media as a means of marketing their products and services.

But social tools can be used equally well to market the Brand of You. Creating, managing and maintaining a Social Persona is essential in our increasingly wired world, where recruitment and hiring happens online as often as in real life, and where your choices - good and bad - leave digital footprints.

Public figures like Alyssa Milano (Twitter) and George Takei (Facebook) have used social media to leverage their brand far beyond the influence they had in their original medium. In the world of politics, President Obama is credited with his use of Social Media for his fundraising and campaigning success. The same is true of athletes, entertainers, and experts who have used social media to enhance their "brand."

Here are several great articles to introduce the concept of creating and maintaining a Personal Brand. We will read a number of blog posts by Dan Schawbel, author of Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, April 09), and publisher of the Personal Branding Blog, and is on Twitter via @DanSchawbel.


CLASS READINGS FOR 4/2:

Students - How to kick-start your personal brand online (Mashable)

Personal Branding 101: How to discover and create your brand (Dan Schawbel - Mashable)

7 Secrets to Getting Your Next Job Using Social Media (Mashable blog)

Personal Branding 102: How to communicate and maintain your brand (Dan Schawbel - Mashable)