One of the things I was pleasantly surprised to find in the first few days was that Avaya has their own Yammer account within their firewall. So naturally I signed up and started sharing.
Within days I had identified a group of really smart people inside Avaya that are totally switched on and not only sharing but discussing real issues in our Yammer forum with other like-minded individuals. I immediately asked my entire team to join since I wanted us to post some discussion threads and get reaction from sales people on our upcoming programs. And at last week’s VoiceCon conference I got to meet some of these folks face to face and it was like we were already long time friends.
One of my biggest concerns about coming into a new environment and managing a whole new group of people was – how am I going to build a network of trusted peers and sales people who I can tap into? I am happy to report that within a matter of weeks that piece is well on its way. Now we can get down to the business of making an impact for the organization.
So often I read and see discussions of Social Media and Social Networking ROI but hidden in that discussion is the unique ability for new employees to get up to speed quickly and build a network while building credibility in the organization. It would have taken me months to do that the traditional way, but with the power of Social Media and Social Networks it took weeks. What’s the ROI to Avaya on that? To borrow a phrase Social Networks like this are indeed Priceless.

Monitor
Tons have been written about monitoring technologies for brands and here is a good list of them all …. 170 Resources to help you manage your online reputation. I tend to use a combination of Technorati alerts on my name and blog name sent directly to a special folder in my Google RSS reader. Plus I also use Tweetscan for twitter mentions and Samepoint for comment mentions all sent directly to a personal brand folder in my Google RSS Reader. Bottom line find something that works for you and stick with it.
Organized
Listening is really the easy part, organizing your brand and more complicated. Like any brand you want to be known for something. So making sure that your single message and point of view is coming through on all sites your brand is on is critical.

I syndicate my blog to 10 sites and get picked up my a dozen or so more. You have to be sure you bio, headshot, key message and look and feel of your brand is perfect across all these channels. I have a quarterly reminder on my outlook calendar for the first Saturday of every quarter …. to visit all these sites and see how my brand is coming across.

TIP: when you do this please be sure you don’t just go through the motions …. really think like a person who is unfamiliar with your brand and then look for ways to improve on all of these sites.

Synchronized
Here is one that is new for me and is well worth the time. I am sure you have been growing your personal brand on places like Twitter, Friendfeed, Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo …. but have you synchronized all of them to ensure you are getting the biggest benefit from all of them? Here is how. Assuming you have assembled all your email addresses into one central location like Gmail, Yahoo, or Hotmail – you can then export them to a file and import it into Twitter, Friendfeed, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Plaxo looking for people who you haven’t connected with yet.
I did this recently and found tons of people I was connected with on LinkedIn but not Twitter or Friendfeed and vice versa. Hat tip goes out to Christopher Penn to pointing this out on a recent podcast of Marketing over Coffee. In fact they even wrote a 19 page eBook about the topic.

Seems to me when you think of these individuals you also think of some attribute(s) about each of them. Essentially that’s the position they occupy in your mind whenever you think of them. Take Robert Scoble for example …. I think blogging, I think Microsoft, and I think Video.
So what does your Personal Brand stand for?
But as I review them I also do a review of my own personal brand and where I want to drive my own brand. Early on I purposely chose Buzz Marketing but decided to niche-ify it with applying it only to Technology …. hence my blog Buzz Marketing for Technology was born. I went from wide to narrow. Is it too narrow?

Ask Gary Vaynerchuk and he would say no …. “I don’t care how small your niche is – find what you want to do every day and DO THAT!”
Is your brand growth oriented or more of a value play? Buzz Marketing is more growth than value and I am sure you would prefer more value in this economy. Recently, I got a call from a good friend who just got laid off and I did a quick review with him of his personal brand. He is a consultant that does cost reduction efforts. Great but in what industries, in what parts of the company I asked him …. where won’t you provide those services? What economic value were you able to create with those services …. was it growth, customer intimacy or just cost reduction?
Either way you craft your brand I believe you need to continually refine it, keep these things in mind and test. Prune your brand every 6 months and be sure to have a clear objective (see last post on Becoming a Thought Leader)
5 Tests for your Personal Brand
1) Is your brand objective still relevant? Do you need to rearticulate it?
2) Is your brand a growth or value brand? Should you shift direction?
3) Is your brand wide or narrow? Should you narrow /widen it more?
4) What industries won’t your brand play in? Should you include/exclude more?
5) Where in the company won’t your brand play? Should you include/exclude more?

But what does that mean? Do you launch a blog? Do you start a Twitter account? Do you launch your own Vlog? Or maybe some combination of all of the above.
To get some more clarity on this I interviewed Dan Schawbel the author of the Personal Branding blog. He will also be releasing a new book called Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (due out with Kaplan in April 0′9). In my opinion, Dan is also the hardest working guy in Social Media posting 10 times a week on his blog, publishing his own magazine and book as well as having a full time job as the social media expert for EMC!


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About Dan
Dan Schawbel is the leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. He is the author of “Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, April 2009).”
Presently, Dan is a Social Media Specialist at EMC Corporation, which is one of the leading technology companies in the world. He has helped revolutionize the way EMC communicates and collaborates with all stakeholders. He has spearheaded the company’s Twitter, Facebook, social media press release/newsroom, social bookmarking and blogging strategy in the past year.
Dan has introduced a whole new generation to personal branding, as he opens up new opportunities and strives to elevate the practice. His Personal Branding Blog is consistently ranked in the top 70 marketing blogs in the world by AdAge, and has achieved syndication from Forbes, Reuters and Hoovers. Dan publishes Personal Branding Magazine, is the head judge for the Personal Brand Awards and directs Personal Branding TV.
He has written articles in major magazines and online resources such as BrandWeek Magazine, PRWeek, About.com, Web Worker Daily, T & D Magazine, Small Business Opportunities Magazine, MarketingProfs, Advertising Age, TheLadders.com and The American Marketing Association. He is a frequent media commentator, cited in such outlets as Fast Company, ABC News, Boston Globe, Monster.com, Young Money Magazine, BNET, ReadWriteWeb, Providence Business News, Marketing News, Brand Strategy Magazine (UK) and Yahoo! Finance.

I don’t think anyone will argue whether the bathwater of an inauthentic persona (faux personal brand) should be tossed out. But, let’s talk about the baby.
I’ve tended to view personal branding as a secondary issue. If you’re looking to project a personal brand, the primary question to you need to answer first and foremost is: What is your value-add?
You don’t have a brand worth a nickel unless you are clear in what value you have to offer. That’s true of personal branding, corporate branding, political branding, and whatever other type of branding du jour we’d like to dream up.
Look around you. Right now – in your office, your home, or even look at all the various Twitter avatars and e-mail addresses on your computer. Not a single one of those people can offer what you do. Each one has inherent value as a person, and unique value as an individual who can contribute to the greater good. And you, too, have a unique and irreplaceable value-add. Focus on the gold – what is it?
I know mine, though it has taken many years to clearly identify and articulate it. But even if you are struggling to put your own value-add into words, you still have that value, and probably those who are closest to you can tell you what it is. Here is an exercise to help you – try to find 5-8 adjectives or nouns that summarize what you do best. Ask your friends and colleagues to help (you might even want to have some fun by making it a Twitter exercise).
Now you’re much closer to figuring out your “personal brand,” because you’re understanding where you add value. And you should think about your value-add on at least 2 levels – the professional level (how do I help my employer and clients succeed and make money?), and the community level (how do I help my family/church/neighbors/network grow and succeed?). Usually, you’ll find quite a bit of overlap, because you are you in both realms, and your strengths carry over.
And that’s the point about having a personal brand. The best personal brands are those that are authentic – that is, they reflect who you truly are, in all realms. You may emphasize specific activities and outworkings in your projected identity, because we all put our capabilities and strengths to use in tangible realms of endeavor, but that projected identity – that personal brand – is coherent with who you are. If you changed jobs, locations, or responsibilities, your brand would remain quite consistent.
If you’re trying to create a persona to hide behind – a faux personal brand – you’re wasting time and energy. Toss the bathwater out the window, identify your true value-add, and embrace it. Then you can project yourself without fear, and we won’t need to waste so much digital bandwidth beating down “personal branding”!
(Image credit)

The experience led Stephanie to wage a one-woman crusade to alert marketers and non marketers about how to practice personal brand defense. You can read her full story here.
I had a chance to interview Stephanie about her experience in practicing personal brand defense…


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About Stephanie Fierman
Stephanie Fierman is a marketing executive for the digital age. Known for building both profitability and brand equity for companies in all stages of growth and across different business sectors, Ms. Fierman has contributed to the success of both Internet start-ups as well as Fortune 50 companies including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Time Warner. She graduated as a Baker Scholar from Harvard Business School and completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Ms. Fierman volunteers much of her personal time and talent to several arts and education organizations in New York City. For more information, go to www.stephaniefierman.com.

Colleagues, hiring managers, clients, and recruiters will use Google and their social and professional networks to find out about you and reach you.
To thrive in this new environment, you need to identify your personal assets and clearly communicate your unique value promise. That’s why I jumped at the chance to speak with William Arruda, co-author of the book Career Distinction, at the MarketingProfs conference in Chicago, where he gave a keynote speech.
I hope you enjoy –

About William
William Arruda is an executive coach, public speaker and author. He combines his 20 years’ corporate branding experience, passion for human potential, and avid pursuit of innovation to help professionals stand out and expand their success. He is the founder of Reach, the global leader in personal branding, and co-founder of the Reach Branding Club. JPMorgan, Disney, Adobe, Microsoft, Warner Bros, British Telecom, Electronic Arts and Starwood Hotels are just a few of the corporate clients for whom he’s delivered presentations and workshops on the transformative power of personal branding. William has appeared on BBC TV, the Discovery Channel, and Radio America. A sought-after spokesperson on career advancement, he has written for and contributed to the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Time magazine, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times and many other publications throughout the world. He holds a master’s degree in education.