As a proponent of personal branding, I was schooled this week on how it isn’t always a good thing. On the surface it makes sense that the more you’re known as an expert in your field, the better off you are.  My previous experiences had led me to believe that this was always the case.  It turns out that like all things, there are positive and negative consequences to personal branding.

During a #PR20Chat on Twitter this issue came up with the obvious example of Frank Eliason’s departure from Comcast.  During his time creating online customer service through Twitter for Comcast, Frank became a legend.  He was a man doing the right thing at the right time and he unwittingly became a celebrity in social media marketing circles for his accomplishments.  As Twitter and social media gained more and more press in publications like the New York Times and  Businessweek, Frank received more and more invitations to deliver keynote presentations on how corporations could best use social media tools to deliver better customer service.

As the person who built one Twitter account into a highly successful online customer service department that made a tarnished company image shine brightly, Frank deserved the notoriety.  His star rising meant that Comcast was simultaneously being heralded as one of the few Fortune 500 companies who were ‘getting’ social media’s value.  A win/win scenario unfolded.

Frank left Comcast for a similar position with Citi and now you don’t hear quite as much about either of them.  As arguably the most famous customer service rep of all time, Frank will forever be known as “formerly from @comcastcares”.

During the #PR20Chat I mentioned two friends, George Smith and Jessica Berlin.  This alerted them to the conversation and they shared a little of their experiences.  George was the Social Media Specialist at Crocs and is now the Manager, Social Execution and Strategy at PepsiCo.  Jessica was the Social Media Manager at Cirque Du Soliel and is now the Social Media Manager at American Eagle Outfitters.  Both of them surprised me by sharing downsides for them and the companies they left when they moved on.

One point was that personal relationships don’t scale. This is a an important point.  People connect to people, not to companies.  A Social Media Manager with a strong personal brand enhances the company they work for while they are there, but when they leave, their following goes with them.  Hopefully their work for their companies created legacy systems that will maintain and grow what they’ve built.  But even then, there will be some natural disintegration when they leave.

Another point was that a personal brand gets tied to the company brand.  It takes time for that association to dwindle.  As I mentioned, no matter how much Frank Eliason does for Citi, he will be associated with Comcast for the rest of his life because he was a rock star at a time when his name and Comcast’s brand were rising stars in customer service together.

It’s a catch 22 because improving your personal brand will always help you and improving a company brand will always help a company.  It just seems that the reality is that there will always be some downsides with that.  Still, the upsides far outweigh having a weak personal brand or a weak company brand.

This article was originally posted at Oxstein Labs.

The larger a company is, the more it may feel it has to protect itself.  This is a valid first reaction, but don’t let it keep your company out of the conversations that could be building your brand.  If Ford, Starbucks, Pepsi and even Old Spice can find ways to win by reaching out to consumers online, then you have everything to gain by jumping into the waters of social media marketing.

The largest perceived threat of social media to companies is loss of control around content.  The reality is that there is no control over content created outside the company that shines either a positive or negative light on the company.  But monitoring, listening, and engaging in the conversations about your company, your industry and your community pays ongoing dividends that only help if negative conversations ever arise.

Internally, systems and policies can be developed to structure communications in ways that eliminate the threat of sensitive internal information being spread while still participating in conversations with consumers that develop a higher level of brand awareness and interest.

For big corporations with multi-levels of management and a top down decision making culture, before you even create a Twitter account, you need to have a clear chain of internal communication as to what your messaging will be, how conflicts will be resolved and how to quickly take advantage of opportunities.  In social media flexibility and speed are the norm.  You can’t wait hours or days to respond to a tweet or a Facebook comment.

This point is very important for companies in industries that are regulated and therefore have legal issues to weigh in with how they communicate online.  By laying out a social media policy that covers most possible scenarios that a company may face, risks can be eliminated and community managers can dive into conversations with consumers with confidence that their words will be building more fans for the company.  Decide the answers to questions like: Do your responders know what they can and can’t say?  What comments do you let go?  Who says what about different areas of the company?

If there is a chance that your company is not committed to ongoing conversations online, or that you prefer controlled messages that have to be approved before going out, then it’s time to look at how you can create a strategy that balances out how to use social media to achieve your business goals while fitting into your company culture.  Simply giving your consumers a place to share what they like or get frustrated with about your company, and then communicating as a human and not an unemotional roboton, will score points in your favor with the public.  People want to be understood and they hate to be ignored.

I have seen Twitter accounts that don’t acknowledge consumer complaints, Facebook pages that don’t respond to inquiries that could help them to make their brand shine and neglected company blogs that have outdated information.  An unanswered question, or a lack of response showing that the company cares to a complaint, on a social media site looks like a statement of arrogance and disinterest that’s sitting on the Internet 24/7 as publicity for how that company operates.  It’s worse to have a presence with no response than to not have a presence at all.  Don’t let them hear crickets versus showing that you’re listening and trying to help.

By going on new media, you are signaling that you are hip, with the times, and you are aware that online communities are talking about you.  You’re telling customers that you’re interested and they’re going to be grateful to be able to support you and connect with you online.

This article was originally published at Oxstein Labs.

The Gap wanted to look like a more forward leaning company so they hired an agency to redesign their logo.  The new logo was active for almost a full four days before Twitter and Facebook users tore it to shreds.  Gap went back to the old logo so fast that the new logo hardly had time to be noticed offline before entering the annals of history as the logo version of New Coke.

You can avoid making the mistake they made by better understanding how marketing and branding work in the 21st century.  Even better, you can discover some good marketing tips to help your business.

1. Crowd source ideas before you launch them. No one but Gap executives and the ad firm they hired for the new logo know how much offline customer feedback was integrated into choosing the new logo.  Regardless of the amount, it obviously wasn’t enough.  The president of The Gap even noted that they need to have dialogue with their customers, but she didn’t think of that until it was forced upon her via the backlash.  What’s odd about not involving customer feedback in this case, though it is standard old school business practice, is that a logo change is an action taken specifically to connect deeper with customers.

What decisions are your company making that would be helped by involving your customers through crowd sourcing?  How much goodwill can you create through showing that you care about their ideas and involving them in growing your brand?

2. Do not listen at your own peril. Follow the Fortune 100 and monitor your brand online.  Last year most companies were still denying the relevance of social media.  This year they are diving into using social media though oftentimes it is done haphazardly with no coherent strategy).

The first step in utilizing the power of online communications is to listen to what people are saying about you, your competition, your industry, and relevant keywords.  If you are listening and responding you are mastering the first step of effective online interactions.  If you are pro-actively generating conversations and interest in your company then you are marching ahead of most of the pack.  How are you using monitoring tools to grow your business?  What can you learn from monitoring online conversations that will take your business to the next level?

3. Online communities include your customers. If your company is not driving a branded community like a Facebook page, your customers are hanging out in other communities instead of yours. Once they are in your community also, remember that they are in control, not you.  As much as you may try to lead them, when you have a faux pas like The Gap’s new logo, they will be louder than you in your community.  And this is a great thing, because it shows that they care and they are giving you free R&D to help you to do better.

At the same time you need to plan ahead regarding how to handle negative comments like the one AT&T was flooded with when they started a Facebook page.  What kind of community do you want to have?  How will you grow it? What conversations are imperative to start in order to build the greatest relationship possible with your community? How can you empower community members to drive the conversations?

4.  Everyone is a media outlet in 2010. By the time offline media covered this story The Gap had already gone back to the old logo and most people had no idea that there ever was a new logo or that people hated it.  The Gap Facebook page is where the controversy began and then Twitter added fuel to the fire by alerting armies of bloggers about the issue.

In the article referenced above with the president of The Gap she mentioned that they rolled out the new logo with no fanfare.  It was noticed by customers who began shouting about it online.  How are you using the legions of influential people online who love your company to help you to spread your brand messages to the people who are most interested in your business priorities?

5.  All PR is good PR. You’re looking at The Gap’s new and old logos in this blog post which is a brand impression. When is the last time you thought about The Gap or bought something from them?  Well, they are now top of mind as we go into the holiday shopping season.  It is doubtful that the logo change was a PR stunt, but it worked marvelously anyway.  What can you do to have your products or services become top of mind at the times when your target audience is most likely to buy?

This article was originally published at Oxstein Labs.

This article was originally published at Oxstein Labs.

It’s a new day in America. With economic cutbacks mixing with technology advancing at light speed, most people are wondering how to keep up.  Throw in an exodus of jobs and people only working at companies for 2 to 3 years instead of 20 and we see a totally different job market than ever before in history.  Like it or not, everyone is a marketer now, even kids.

In the first three weeks of this school year my house was presented with fundraisers from schools and PTA’s for coupon books, a jog-a-thon and selling mattresses.  That’s not a joke, the high school had a mattress selling fundraiser which included pimping out kids to go door to door with flyers and post yard signs announcing “Up to 60% off” of mattresses.  This is how far our country has fallen.

I spoke with teachers about this and they hate it, but said “what can we do?”  Remember when teachers taught school?  Now they are forced to be sales managers directing kids from Kindergarten up to 12th grade to sell crap in order to buy school supplies.  Your kid is forced to do this after you’ve already spent money buying your own kids school supplies and paying taxes that were initially allocated for education.  Teachers and kids are now marketers and salespeople who have quotas to strive for, though they aren’t held accountable for missing them.

Do you remember when the police were mostly fighting crime?  You know, protecting and serving?  Have you noticed that your town feels more like you’re under surveillance than ever before?  Many cities have seen cutbacks lead to  laying off police officers.  The result has been that cops have increased ticket quotas to hit like sales goals.  They are threatened with losing their jobs because of cutbacks in their departments if they don’t make their quotas. These days you are a potential revenue source, a customer, before you are a citizen.

Though I don’t know how to help police officers and school teachers out of their delimma without reallocating federal funds from the defense budget to education and police departments, I know what workers can do. Employees need to realize that even when you don’t own a business, you are now an entrepreneur who must market her services.

If you go to a job interview with the same exact skills as another candidate who has online profiles and content showing off her expertise and you don’t, who do you think is going to get hired?  The other person will land the job simply because they are showing their value in the industry 24/7 online for any recruiter or HR person to review while you are only telling a job history on a resume.

The good news is that there are more ways than ever to build your personal brand to market yourself.  Here are the top three personal branding techniques that every person needs to use:

1. Have an optimized LinkedIn profile.  Just because you’re on LinkedIn doesn’t mean you’re in good shape.  Is your bio full of searchable keywords for recruiters?  Do you have a video?  Do you have recommendations?  Have you recommended others?  Do you have a Twitter feed adding real time content tpo your profile page? Are you answering questions in the Q&A area?  Are you participating in conversations happening in the Groups aligned with your industry?  If you need help with this look no further than Mike O’Neill and Lori Ruff‘s book, “Rock the World with Your Online Presence.”

2.  Start a blog. Blogs are where people share their interests, their passions and their expertise.  If you like to write, then use WordPress.  If you prefer short snippets of writing, photos and videos, you can blog on Posterous or Tumblr easier than you can dial a phone.

3.  Comment on the blogs that are the most popular in your industry.  Search AllTop or BlogSearch.Google.com with keywords used in your industry to find the best blogs.  Leave comments on articles where you have something of value to add to the conversation.  This can help you to build a relationship with experts in your field and it leaves a permanent comment that is like a sales person working 24/7 to share the fact that you have valuable skills with the world.

The 21st century is a time when you will lose ground in your career if you do not create a personal brand and market yourself.  Like it or not, it’s time to be the best marketer of you that you can imagine.

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.  Influencer Marketing is the ‘new black’ in advertising because it meshes the trust that Influencers have built over time with ad dollars from brands who don’t have that level of trust with their audience.

About a year ago the big prediction was that mobile platforms were going to break out in 2009.  Their influence grew, but outside of Asia, the world is still way behind in utilizing the full potential of what’s available now for mobile computing much less what’s around the corner.

The latest 2010 breakthrough prediction is that next year is the year that social media ROI will finally be measurable.  This will be a great leap forward for advertisers if it comes true.  It will also solidify the shift from traditional media domination of ad buys over to a large increase in those funds moving to work with individual online influencers.

My company predicts that, based on our extensive research, 2011 will be the Year of The Influencer.  Therefore, it’s not a surprise that I agree that 2010 will be the year that social media ROI can finally be measured.  One reason why I expect that to happen is that we’re one of the companies working hard to build the structures to make it happen.

Aside from that, the biggest question about social media in 2009, especially from people new to the field, was “what’s the ROI on a social media marketing campaign?”  The analytical tools like Klout, Radian6, Twitter Grader and Filtrbox are getting sharper by the day in measuring online influence in ways that actually matter to answer that question.

Brands are just starting to seek out channel partnerships and influencers who can be brand advocates.  In the last six months this space has become white hot and is currently in it’s infancy.

Remember that ‘Twitter’ was declared the most used word in 2009 and ‘influencer’ may be on it’s heels for that title in 2010 or 2011.  When those two words create the return on investment everyone’s looking for, then the evolution of media power from traditional media to social media will begin it’s second phase fueled by multiple models of profitability.

Ironically as I help companies and professionals to build and manage their brands I’m undergoing a personal re-branding.  Later in the post I’ll go into why you need to pay attention to your personal branding. Now I’ll fill you in on how this post came to be.

A few days ago I began the process of being called “Brett” instead of “Sopan.”  Fifteen years ago I went through the same process but in reverse with the names.  I legally added “Sopan” as my first name thinking it suited more of who I was and who I wanted to be.

As I am increasingly working with very high level professionals it seems more fitting to have a name that’s easier for people to pronounce.  It’s also nice to not have to spell and re-pronounce my name every time I introduce myself.

Sopan is a unique name and therefore a good memorable brand.  But judging by the same confused look I get every time people hear it for the first time, and the high frequency of times it’s mispronounced, it has drawbacks also.

When I was a radio DJ I was told that “Brett Greene” sounded strong and sexy like “James Bond.”  Whether that’s true or not, hearing it from a beautiful girl gives the memory weight in going back to that name.  Strong and sexy are good characteristics for any personal or professional brand.

The best comments to this change so far have been:

“Puff Daddy went through it too. From Puff Daddy to P Diddy to Sean Combs and back to Puff Daddy!  No big deal!”

“Don’t worry about the name thing.  Prince went through this too and everyone liked it better.”

“What – no more ‘You don’t mess with the Sopan?”

“It doesn’t matter what you’re called.  What matters is what you answer to.”

So why does this matter to you?  Because it’s the 21st century and your personal brand will help you to sink or swim professionally.

If I have two candidates for a position and one of them has an interesting blog, insightful tweets on a Twitter account and a strong LinkedIn profile (which few know how to create) then I’m hiring that person.

A resume and good interview skills aren’t enough to get a great job these days.

The same goes for people I’m going to hire.  I’ll hire the person who is powerfully presenting themselves as an expert over the person who doesn’t even have a basic website.  This isn’t just me, this is reality now.

We live in a time of radical transparency which I love because it makes bullshit a lot harder to hide.

When you fly your flag you’ll attract your tribe and connect with more and more people internationally that will contribute to your personal and professional lives.  It’s a great time to be alive and the best time ever to be in communication online.

People live online and often get to know about new friends and business associates through social networking and new media.  If you’re not swimming in this pool, which means being in the conversation, not just putting up a profile, then you’re not in the game.

Like it or not you are a brand.  If you don’t get this then I invite you to read this Fast Company aritcle on “The Brand Called You” and Dan Shawbel’s Personal Branding Blog to get up to speed.

What is your personal brand?  Who do you want people to think you are when they Google you or when they say or hear your name?

Are your unique gifts, talents and expertise on display where people can learn about them? What are you doing today to build and manage both your personal and professional brands?

Asking these questions today will affect the results in your life for many tomorrows to come.