Online Personal Branding 2

July 21st, 2010 | by Ridhima Suri |

The Internet is the real deal today. If you are not on the net, there is no way you can get the fullest potential for your business. Look at the number of business profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn, Orkut, MySpace & other social & professional networking portals. Then look at the number of online stores, online shoppers, and online brands. This phenomenal rise in the use of internet means different things to different people.

For the recruiter

A couple of years back, a recruiter had a limited database of potential job seekers. Now he is surprised to see the range of options available to him on websites like LinkedIn and Yahoo Hot Jobs. While companies create jobs, the recruiters are able to do a great job. More jobs, more business, better economies, get the picture..

For the regular internet user

The extraordinary growth in terms of tweets per second, user profiles on online networks , profile views, pageviews/visit, photo & link uploads seems to have cleared the confusion faced by the internet user of ‘yore’: should I have an online profile? should I share photos and other private information online? should I come out of my ‘bubble’? Is it safe to have a profile on the internet? The ‘modern’ user wants to update his status on FaceBook by the hour! The hesitation to use the internet for sharing personal stuff is going away gradually but steadily. In fact people share scripts, paintings, music, blog posts with friends everyday. This is a type of online personal branding.

For the shopper

When I visited a Victoria’s Secret store I sensed that they are really working hard on marketing their online product lines. There were free samples. There was store signage with URLs. The receipt directs you to the online website at least 2 times. There is a mention of www.victoriassecret.com wherever possible but in a way that does not oversell the website and undersell the store itself. There is chatter about upcoming promotions. Once you give your email to the cashier, you will get a volley of emails with new offers and new product lines! Victoria’s Secret is on Twitter, Facebook & MySpace. Whenever the company can make a splash it does! This is aggressive marketing and branding. The company has had tremendous growth in the past few years thanks to the internet.

You can buy anything off the net. Recently I found out that many of my favorite furniture stores closed shop. I am guessing that the bad economy must have something to do with this. On the other hand, I also found excellent furniture on Amazon and other online furniture retailers. Many businesses are shifting towards the internet and completely replacing the ‘brick-and-mortar’ model. What does this mean? This means the shopper has more choice. If you can create an online brand for your business you are in good luck!

For the movie maker

Earlier a movie was considered a success or failure by critics and the public would get the final verdict via newspapers and magazines. What is happening now? The movie is a success at the rate of ‘now’. I recently watched Toy Story and Inception. I really liked these movies and I made a difference as a regular viewer. You may ask how?

Well, I wrote on my FaceBook wall, I tweeted several times on Twitter, and I also wrote a blog post. At any given point if I was chatting on Yahoo Messenger, GTalk, or Google Wave I encouraged my friends to watch it. I also wrote an anonymous post on IMDB (www.imdb.com).

Internet has shifted the power of reviewing events and movies to the consumers. I am not saying the critics and heavy weight analysts are less important. I am just saying that the average consumer is no longer in the dark and can ‘brand’ or ‘unbrand’ anything public.

For a Twitter user

Twitter was not there 10 years back. There was no FaceBook then as well. The problems we face in social networking were never imaginable then. On the bright side, look at how easy it is to connect to movie stars, players, and politicians. Everyone is into online personal branding. I do not have to wait for Forbes or Vanity Fair to give me the latest on who’s who. My favourite stars feed me with tweets by the minute. I know it all-when someone is injured, when a film shoot is cancelled, how much money was donated to a cause, who scored a goal, cheap deals in Las Vegas, etc.

You can follow anyone-Leonardo DiCaprio, Mel Gibson, Messi, Amitabh Bachan, Dalai Lama, Bill Clinton, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and even the Russian President. They are all on Twitter. They are into personal branding and vying for consumer’s attention!

For anyone

The internet has opened a vista of opportunities. However, the key point is to make a difference and make your presence felt. There is too much chatter on the net and that is where online personal branding comes into the picture.

  1. Articulate your branding strategy well.
  2. Market yourself on the web.
  3. Find channels to create interest in your products and services.

Remember the consumer is sitting at many points-

  1. he is working on his laptop,
  2. he is using his smartphone, IPad, GPS,
  3. he is using other internet enabled devices
  4. he is also reading newspapers, magazines,
  5. listening to his favorite talk show on the radio, and
  6. he is watching TV on Hulu & Netflix.

Hence if you want to create a brand for yourself, you can find your target audience at more than one point. Tweet, like, buzz, comment, blog…just get on the internet to do great online personal branding.

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