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4-Ways Foursquare Impacts your Personal Brand

Is Foursquare a silly game? Is Foursquare just another cool iPhone app?  Or is it just another social network?  From a personal branding perspective I would like to add a different angle.

Foursquare has the potential to be a great personal branding lifestyle social network (with the integration of Twitter at this point). Personal branding is a lifestyle not just a career choice.  It is something that is lived 24/7 not just from 9-to-5.  Foursquare naturally integrates your DNA, your brand associations, and your habits into its social networking game with each check-in.

4-Ways Your Personal Brand is Impacted

1.    Lifestyle: Your habits and choices are stamped with each check-in.  For example I workout at Lifetime Fitness and after becoming the Mayor it encouraged me to continue working out more frequently.  Whether I get unseated as Mayor is not the issue, it communicates commitment and that being physically fit is critical to my personal brand.  Can I tweet that I am going to the gym?  Absolutely. A stronger message is sent however when you physically check-in at the gym?
2.    Brand Associations: It connects you with establishments or brands you want to be associated with, whether it is a food establishment that provides healthy food or a eco friendly store that you purchased furniture from.
3.    Money Trail: To truly identify what is important to a person follow how they spend their money, there isn’t a clearer indicator of values.
4.    Local Market Branding: Adding tips can be a great personal branding tool  it connects you with desired establishments/brands in local markets.  It can also create opportunities especially as you frequent specific locations more often.  In local markets it can add name recognition and adds a virtual presence even when you are not physically at the location.

Optional #5: Work Time Stamp: Work habits are reinforced since check-ins can only be done with mobile devices when you are in the physical area.

Two Basic Tips for Using Foursquare

•    Tips: Create unique tips that people will find value when they visit or are near the establishment.
•    Shouts: Brand your choices, each check-in provides you an opportunity to reinforce why you have selected the establishment or brand you are visiting.

There is a noise factor that has to be managed with Foursquare I will admit.  Broadcasting every move you make might not be the digital footprint that you are trying to create.  Below is an example @Nolascratch tweets about going to the bathroom. I am not taking a shoot at this person but I just wanted to show an example.  This tweet is about going to the bathroom which we all at some point have to go.  You must determine for yourself what reinforces your personal brand message with this tool like you do with the other social networks.

4sq_bathroom

Foursquare is a social network that will continue to evolve much like Twitter and Facebook as time progresses. see a great opportunity to reinforce your personal branding lifestyle through Foursquare.

Other Articles on Foursquare
5 Ways Foursquare is Changing the World
Foursquare vs. Gowalla: Location-Based Throwdown

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The Super Bowl Guide to Building Brand Buzz

Wouldn’t it be incredible to air your own Super Bowl commercial, and be able to broadcast your unique message to hundreds of millions of viewers? Of course it would!  But, unless you have $3 million in your couch cushions, you will likely need to find a more reasonable way to promote your personal brand.  Here are 5 unique ways to create your own buzz, observed from Super Bowl XLIV brand advertisers.

1.  Collaborate, don’t compete.

This CBS commercial for “The Late Show” featured David Letterman, Oprah Winfrey, and even late-night competitor Jay Leno.  Why would CBS want to showcase these stars from competing networks?  Two reasons, really – to create interest, and to gain brand value by association.

How can you put this principle to play while building your own brand?  One way is to interview a respected authority in your field, and publish the interview on your blog.  Mohammed Al-Taee did just that in this interview with branding legend Seth Godin.  Another option is to write guest articles for “competing” blogs in your niche.

2.  Continue the story.

The GoDaddy commercials are infamously racy in nature – and I don’t suggest that the particular theme of their spots is right for everyone.  But, what GoDaddy does better than any other advertiser is “continue the story”.  The call-to-action is always to view even more on their website.  Their :30 seconds of fame turns into far more than :30 seconds.

What about you?  When you meet peers at conferences or seminars, do you continue the story?  Does your business card list your blog URL, your Twitter handle, and your Linkedin profile?  Follow the GoDaddy formula, and turn your offline connections into online connections, and vice versa.

3.  Provide sneak peaks to insiders.

Google’s “Parisian Love” spot was brilliant on multiple levels, but I will focus on one in particular.  The day before the Big Game, Google’s CEO tweeted this somewhat cryptic message, signaling that Google might be running a spot.  On several tech blogs, the spot itself was leaked early (accidental?).  I saw the spot the night before the Super Bowl, and was excited to have “inside info” that others didn’t.  Who doesn’t love to feel like an insider?

How can you replicate this same feeling around your personal brand?  You might e-mail your blog subscribers in advance to describe an upcoming series of posts.  Or, you could produce and provide a special video just for your Twitter followers.  Problogger takes similar steps quite often, and each time I enjoy the “insider” feeling.

4.  Evoke emotions.

Budweiser ran several silly commercials with typical juvenile punchlines, and none of them really stuck with me.  But, the Budweiser Clydesdale spot that featured the pony and young steer succesfully tugged at the heartstrings.  The spot was an instant hit because it evoked an emotional reaction from all who watched it.

You can replicate this very concept by occasionally weaving ”truly personal” elements into your personal brand.  The two most powerful articles I’ve read recently were from Copyblogger.com, and both were deeply personal in nature.  Read both this Men With Pens post, and this Jonathan Morrow post, and remember the feelings evoked by these personal tales.

5.  Provide an offer nobody can refuse.

I’ll admit, I thought the Denny’s “Chickens” ads were just plain horrible.  Yet, they managed to create a buzz around their brand by offering a free Grand Slam breakfast to anyone in the country.  The compelling offer was the star, not the ludicrous TV spots.

Just think – if the nation is thrown into a frenzy over scrambled eggs and a sausage link, what could you provide to inspire the same fervor?  Maybe that college paper you wrote can be redesigned and turned into an E-Book?  Promote the book as “Usually $15, but FREE to all blog subscribers by March 1, 2010″.  With a little viral luck, you might just have a brand buzz gold rush on your hands.

The ideas above are just a few of the lessons personal brands can learn from large business brands.  While our individual budgets can never compete – we can apply the very same principles to build buzz around our own brands.

What do you think?  Do you have any other ideas on how individuals might create excitement around their own brands?  Leave a comment below, “continue the story” with me on Personal Branding 101, or say hello on Twitter.

Ryan is the advertising creative coordinator for a Fortune 500 financial services firm on the West Coast.  His experience building the brand of a globally respected firm helps provide a unique perspective on the world of personal branding.  Read more from Ryan at Personal Branding 101 .

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Side Projects are Bigger than Resumes



Are you focused on building a better resume?  Then my first question is why?

This is a rhetorical question and your answer probably goes something like this. To get my dream job I was taught to go to college, get an education and work that job for 30 plus years.

Part of that process is to put your experience and education on a 8.5 x 11 inch rectangle and tell the world how great you are.  What if I told you not to forget about your resume, but to change your focus and focus on creating something that matters?  i.e. A Project

Evan Williams talk at TED centered around side projects, which is how Twitter was birthed.

The Building a Better Mousetrap Mentality

We have all heard the saying, “Build a Better Mousetrap.”  William C. Hooker invented the spring-loaded mousetrap in 1894.  Since its creation there have many different versions:  electric, live-catching, glue, inert gas and the list goes on.  What has the outcome been of these upgraded mousetraps?  Better materials??  Bragging rights??  You feel cooler about using them??

How do you build a better resume? The same way you build a better mousetrap right?  You create an online resume with links right?  You use social channels right?  As a practitioner in the personal branding it is easy to force-feed this mindset down peoples throats.  (Note:  I am not saying go drink the Kool-Aid and throw away your resume, but re-think what you are focused on.)

Game Changers and their Projects

Listed below are four people who are working on some cool personal projects who won’t need a resume to get their next gig.  Guaranteed. These projects are creating major opportunities for these individuals and I guarantee you they are not tweaking their resume to death.  They are working on projects that people care about that they have a passion for.

•    Noah Brier – Creator of BrandTags.net – Fast Company 100 Most Creative People in Business (2009)
•    Evan Williams -  Founder of Twitter (Enough said)
•    Gina McCauley – Founder of Blogging While Brown – Essence Magazine 25 Most Influential African- Americans (2007)
•    Noah Everett –  Founder of Twitpics – Twitter’s most popular photo sharing site.  Valued at $10 Million?

What is your side project?

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You are a Business, Period.

I know that title is a little forward, but thats how convinced I am, that business and our personal lifestyles are largely parallel.

You are a business because everyone you are connected to expects you to yield something, in some form or fashion. Whether it’s your spouse or family with love and relationship or your boss and coworkers with on the job production and results –we are all created to produce.

The same goes for a business, its no different. A business is built to yield profits, yes, but businesses are not around to just yield profits. Although that is a large part of the end result.

My reason for this post is driven by an article I read in the February 2010 issue of Fast Company. In this issue was a great cover story with Steve Nash, point guard, for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. The title of the article is, “Rules for Winning: How Creativity Can Beat Chaos in Basketball and Business.”

Great title, right? Its actually a good article. But here is my disagreement with Steve. He makes a point to say in the article, that these days “…professional athletes think of themselves as a brand, but thats not my way of thinking.”

Why? What’s wrong with thinking of yourself as a brand or a business? He brings in $13 Million a year from the Suns (not including endorsements and business ventures) and I am sure he employs people. That kind of sounds like a business to me. Isn’t he a brand? Would he establish these business ventures or opportunities if it had not been for his reputation (brand) on the court.

I am not going to beat Steve up in this post, he’s definitely entitled to look at things this way, but it made me look at a bigger picture on why he may feel this way. To some people being a personal brand and business is still a progressive way of thinking. Some may feel a brand represents ego or chest pounding, a “THIS IS WHO I AM” syndrome. I think its because with this media-crazed advertising world we live in, we have managed to de-humanize the concept of a brand. We tainted it with corporate scandal and sensationalized branding to the point the concept seems very plastic and unreal. Or the thought process of, “If you are a brand, you are trying get one over on me, or you selling me something I don’t want.” Well people this is not always true. Those realities are there and it is the very reason our large corporations who have failed to care for their customers in a very human way – are collapsing right before our eyes.

I like Steve’s approach to the game of basketball and I like his off court persona. He works hard and he is about his team receiving limelight, not just him. He goes out and play’s the game well, produces day in and day out, and in result excels in many of the categories respective to his position. Sounds like a good brand to me. What do you think?

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Downloading your Own Personal Branding Map (Part I)

We live in a me two world of imitators and copiers. The explosion of the internet and social media has made it easier than ever to be a duplicate versus living life as an original. Most people settle for being a cheap devalued imitation, a figure head of their own personal brand or a mindless avatar because they think following someone else’s map is easier than downloading their own.

What is a Map?

Wikipedia defines map as a visual representation of an area—a symbolic depiction highlighting relationships between elements of that space such as objects, regions, and themes.

As a personal brand each person is wired a certain way and understanding how you are wired positions you for greater impact in the space you desire to dominate. We are not designed to live life by default, allowing life to automatically make decisions for us in the absence of a choice being made by you and I as individuals.

Personal Branding Map – It is your plan or a visual representation of you that you develop that will get you to your end goal of implementing your personal brand (operating in your Genius)

Developing your Own Map (This post will only cover three points.)
• Identify Virtual Mentors – Identifying success examples online. (ref. list below)
• Online Research – Twitter Search, Google Readers (Feeds), etc.
• Read Books – Recommended readings Linchpin, Outliners, and The Brand YU Life to name a few.
The deliverable or outcome is to identify your personal brand DNA.

Other Personal Branding Maps
• Seth Godin – Entrepreneur (Marketing)
• Gary Vaynerchuk – Entrepreneur (Businessman, Speaker, and Author)
• Lynn D. Johnson – Corporate – SVP, Social Media at the Advertising Research Foundation
• Tristan Walker – Corporate – Business Developer at Foursquare
• Rohit Bhargava – Corporate (Author and Speaker) – SVP, Strategy & Marketing at Ogilvy 360
• Scott Monty – Corporate – Global Digital and Communications Manager at Ford

Note: Examples listed above are to be used for benchmarking exact duplication of someone else’s map doesn’t guarantee you their results or success.

Closing Thoughts
Most people live life by default and live a life according to the directions of someone else’s map. This leads to frustration and puts them on a road that doesn’t lead them too operating in their Genius. Downloading your specific personal branding map is critical to fully unlocking your genius. This blog post is the first in a series on “Downloading your Own Personal Branding Map.”

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