Today, we live in a world that is skin deep. Magazine covers, movies, and product commercials are littered with models, celebrities, movie stars and the moving target of what society says is in and is beautiful. Packaging is an important part of personal branding and must be addressed. People are visual and make decisions based upon images, first impressions, and yes your avatar. It is cliché, but true, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

One of the most critical elements of your personal brand is your avatar or as I call it your global ID. It is typically the first visual online impression that people will have with your personal brand.

What is an Avatar?
It is the online visual representation of your personal brand.

Managing your Avatar
o Standardization: Avatar should be branded consistently all of your social networks.
o Professional Looking Image: A professional photo shoot is not required, but a clear crisp headshot is idea.
o Social Network Specs: Follow the specs of the social network your uploading your avatar into.

Benefits of a Great Avatar
o Communicates Trust: Your image can communicate trust and impact perception (enhances or diminishes)
o Branding Consistency: Visual impressions of your personal brand is consistent across the web increasing brand recognition.
o Connectivity: Digital relationships should help build off-line relationships.
o Brand Humanization: It humanizes your brand and helps people connect with you as a person.

Where should your Personal Branded Avatar Exist?
o Wherever you Exist: Press Kit, Blog, etc.
o Social Networks: Consistent across all of your social networks: Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, etc.
o Business Cards (Web 2.0 Cards): I am an advocate for avatars on business cards. Your business cards should extend the online and off-line relationship. I recommend www.BrandCardz.com
o Blog Post Comments: Create a profile on Gravatar and it will automatically populate your avatar into any WordPress (other platforms are being researched) blog comment that you post. As people begin to read your well thought out comments on other blogs the recognition of your personal brand will continue to spread.
o Slideshare Resume: Create a creative version of your resume in a slide presentation formation should include your avatar.
o Mybloglog: Add the Mybloglog widget to your blog and it will allow you to see who is visually coming to your blog.

There are many schools of thought on creating an avatar such as the usage of cartoons, logos, or cool designs. I recognize there are many successful examples of cartoons (@chrispirillo) or logos (@BarackObama) so the chose is yours. I recommend that you use an image of yourself as your avatar because one of the goals is to turn digital relationships into off-line relationships and it helps the visual recognition of your personal brand.

I’m pleased to bring you the second video from the 2008 Brand Camp University Personal Branding 2.0 Conference, with Scott Monty Director of Social Media at Ford talking about Social Media & You: Tips for Success in your Career. His presentation includes his now famous quote “What happens in Vegas - Stays in Google.” He has some excellent information to share. Sit back and enjoy.

Thanks to Portage Media Solutions for producing the video.

I’m really excited to post the videos of the 2008 Brand Camp University Personal Branding 2.0 Conference for all to see. It was a collection of smart people sharing their knowledge of personal branding and social media.

We’re going to release a new video each week in the order that they occurred, the first session was of me presenting ‘Developing Your Personal Brand 2.0 (YU.0).’ Next week, we’re going to release teh Scott Monty video; then Marcie Brogan, Pete Thomas, and capping it off with Charlie Wolborg and Terry Bean.

You can get them on this site (links are in the sidebar), or you can subscribe to the audio or video podcast in iTunes or whatever podcast client. Thanks for all that came, thanks to the speakers for sharing their knowledge, and I look forward to your feedback on what we discussed in the presentation below in the comments section.

It is 2009 and the Internet is buzzing with experts providing their predictions and trends for the year. I wanted to provide my thoughts on personal branding to help set the tone for an exciting year.

Predictions/Trendspotting

1. Creative Economy: Creativity will be to the information age what manufacturing was to the industrial age. Individuals dependence on being a company man working 30-years at one company or until death do you part will cease to exist. The integration of creativity into business ideas and career will become a necessity and not an option. As a personal brand you will need to think creatively in developing strategic partnerships and ways to stand out. After everybody has updated their Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter pages, established a blog, added followers, and followed all the same tips what is next? Creativity.
2. Purpose/Mission: People will start to seek opportunities or careers that give them greater satisfaction that they have a true passion for. This is primarily due to the instability in the economy and the reduction of jobs that were more lucrative in good economic times. High paying low education jobs are a thing of the past. People will now look at opportunities that align with how they are wired and what they were designed to do.
3. ‘Personal Branding’ Term Commoditized: The term ‘Personal Branding’ will become more commoditized and genericized. The term has significance and value when implemented, but I believe the term itself will be overused and misused.
4. Traditional Journalist Become Commodities: The voice and influence of bloggers and social media experts increase. Newspapers are losing money with traditional newspaper printing and are looking for ways to compete with the new media. Traditional journalist will have to integrate social media and effectively establish their personal brand.
5. Personal Branding Experts Commodization: With the increase of social media gurus the line between personal branding experts and social media experts is blurring. The personal branding industry will become oversaturated and the cream will rise to the top. Those of us in the personal branding industry will have to work harder to cut through the noise.
6. Establish ‘Blue Movement’: The need to develop the ‘Blue Movement is critical. ‘American Made’ needs to be established as the new luxury product. The ‘Green Movement’ has been very successful because big business have bought into it can the same be done with the ‘Blue Movement’?
7. Twitter Relevance Increases: Twitter will gain relevance as a search and primary news source. Business opportunities with strategist business models and usages will continue to be developed.
8. Personal Brands being Healthy: Being healthy is just as importance as your ranking in Google. You can have all the money and influence in the world but without good health you have nothing. Being fit spiritually, mentally, and physically is critical. Learn to have balance and think holistically because you are the sum total of all your parts.
9. Passion Becomes King: People doing what they love. Passion is the fuel that drives you to do what others are not willing to do. We all have the same 24-hours but passionate people find out how to get more out of their time and produce higher quality results.

I want to challenge and inspire you to shine in 2009. Have an awesome year and share your predictions for 2009 in the comments section of this blog post.

How many people do you currently mentor? Is that number 1, 2 or 10? Whatever number you identify you have underestimated the impact of your mentorship program. As a personal brand you are a virtual mentor for many whether you realize it or not. You are inspiring, challenging, and helping those less experienced than you to develop by indirectly speaking into their life.

Wikipedia defines Mentorship as a developmental relationship in which a more experienced person helps a less experienced person, referred to as a protégé, apprentice, mentee, or (person) being mentored, develop in a specified capacity.

When was the last time you read a blog post or followed someone on Twitter and the light went on for you? When was the last time you saw a video that someone loaded into YouTube, or read a book and the light went on for you? When was the last time you received a DM from someone, or read a link that someone posted on Twitter and the light went on for you? These brief points of interaction can be as impactful as spending 3 or 4 hours with a person in a face-to-face mentoring session.

My Virtual Mentors

With the expansion of social networks, blogs, podcasting, teleseminars it is possible to mentor virtually millions without having a personal relationship with each mentee. As a personal brand strategist I am a virtual mentor with the goal of impacting the lives of 1 million people. So I thought it would be interesting to share with you some of my personal virtual mentors. Most of whom I have never met face-to-face, don’t have an in-depth business relationship with, or DM them 10-times a day, but have been impacted tremendously by their work.

o Guy Kawasaki (@GuyKawasaki): Author of Reality Check (and eight other books)/Founding partner at Garage Technology Ventures and Co-Founder of Alltop.com
o Seth Godin: Marketing Guru/Author of Tribes (and eleven other books)
o Hill Harper (@HillHarper): Actor on CSI/Author of Letters to a Young Brother: MANifest your Destiny
o Chris Brogan (@ChrisBrogan): Social Media Guru/President of New Marketing Labs/Author of ‘Trust Agents’ (Due in Fall 2009)
o Rohit Bhargava (@RohitBhargava): Author of Personality Not Included
o Kevin Carroll: Author of Rules of the Red Rubber Ball & The Red Rubber Ball at Work.
o Malcolm Gladwell: Author of Blink/Tipping Point & Outliners
o Vincent Hunt (@Vincent Hunt): Creative Guru
o Nancy Duarte (@Nancy Duarte): Author of Slideology
o Wayne Sutton (@Wayne Sutton): Social Media Strategist

Basic Elements of a Virtual Mentor

o Have a product/service within their Niche: A book, audio content, workshops, or seminars that centers around your specific message.
o Blog/Social Network Presence: It allows people the opportunity to connect with you, get to know you, and humanizes your brand.
o Be Authentic: Be who you are. Be authentic. People follow interesting people.
o Have the right Associations: Following or friending the right people can create mutually benefital business relationships. Leaders attract leaders.

I want to thank my virtual mentors for the REALITY CHECK, that assisted be in developing my TRIBE, to MANifest my DESTINY, while being a TRUST AGENT, with my PERSONALITY INCLUDED, while playing with my RED RUBBER BALL @ WORK, presenting my brand with SLIDE:OLOGY, while BLINKing, in 140 or Less, and being SOCIAL like WAYNE.

Brand Camp University made history September 27, 2008.

The Personal Brand 2.0 Conference was ‘Live Tweeted’ and made the Twitter search top 10 with the tag #bcu08. The Tweeting team worked hard and blogged from 9am-4pm.

The All-World Tweeting Team:
Brandon Chestnutt- @bchesnutt
Beverly Cornell- @BeverlyCornell
Nevrus (Nev) Muftari - @Nervus
Brian Ambrozy- @Primesuspect
Hajj E. Flemings- @HajjFlemings
BrandCamp- @BrandCamp

Other Tweeters @ The Conference

Scott Monty- @Scott Monty
Charlie Wolborg- @Charliecurve
Avery Logan- @Allogan
Pete Thomas- @PeteThomas
Larry Robinson- @LarryRobinson
To follow the conference tweets search using the tag #bcu08.

Marcie traded in a doctoral program at University of Detroit for a job at the Doner ad agency where she was soon winning national awards for copywriting.
Next came 8 years in European ad agencies. Starting with the hottest shop in London — once she convinced them that she could write English English. Then a stint in Brussels. Followed by a job with Interpublic that made her the first female creative director in The Netherlands.

Then back to Detroit where she opened her own agency offering advertising, marketing and-more recently-PR and digital services.

Brogan & Partners is known for its creative work and for its innovative workplace. Staffers enjoy free Monday Morning manicures, quarterly Mystery Trips, and even cash awards for the Mistake of the Month. Little surprise that theThe Big Idea magazine named Brogan as the Michigan agency most ad people want to work for.

Brogan has a major branch in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park; an affiliate in Chicago; a phone number in Naples; and high hopes for DC. Recently relocated to Automation Alley, the agency will soon re-open a Detroit office in the Heidleberg Project as a unique economic and community development partnership with Heidleberg artist Tyree Guyton.

Over her business years, Marcie has served on many boards, committees and think tanks. Currently, she is director of the Detroit Regional Chamber; the Adcraft Club; the Rainbow Connection; and somehow was elected to the Executive Committee of the Michigan Nature Conservancy—even though she claims to hate going outdoors.

www.brogan.com

The Brand Camp U. flyer is complete. Let me know what you think? If you want to eBlast out to your distribution let me know and I can provide you with the html code.

Branded,

Hajj E. Flemings

Chief Networking Officer
Founder of Networked Inc and Motor City Connect

Terry’s passion is helping others succeed. As a consummate networker, he makes sure he understands not only the needs of his associates, but how to bring together the resources to satisfy those needs.

Terry is the driving force behind Networked Inc., a company that he co-founded to bring buyers and sellers of products and services together efficiently. His firm has provided training on the concepts and benefits of networking to numerous sales teams and professionals.

Terry viscerally understood the value of maintaining professional relationships immediately upon joining the business community in 1996. Since that time, Terry has started numerous face to face and virtual networking groups. He is currently the 9th most connected Linkedin member in Detroit, is an associate at CNO Partners and works with www.RNIA.org to help formalize networking as a recognized Industry. Maintaining these relationships have helped him achieve the success he presently enjoys.

Terry holds a B.S. in Psychology and a M.A. in Business Communications from EMU. He enjoys softball, weight training, The Simpson’s and his 5 year old daughter, Drea.

@TerryBean

www.networkedinc.com

Chief Troublemaker/Founding Partner of Curve Detroit Advertising, Marketing and Design.
Charlie opened the doors on Curve Detroit Advertising, Marketing & Design in 1999 after being thrown out of several well respected ad agencies. As a writer, designer and strategist, he has delivered blue sky ideas and bottom line results for blue chip local and national clients including: Saturn, Mazda, Boyne, Sanders Candy and Blue Cross. He loves ice cream, hiking in Tobermory and the feel of Lake Michigan sand between his toes. His dislikes include poorly designed billboards, speed limits and people who flick cigarette butts out the window. He’s happily married to his unhappily married wife, Elena and nine month old son Lanagan Jack, who will one day grow up to be a pirate.

@charliecurve
http://www.curvedetroit.com/

In November 2005, Pete Thomas walked away from the finale of NBC’s The Biggest Loser a Winner - and a loser. He won $100,000 for losing the most weight of all the contestants that season. What he lost was 185 pounds in only nine short months … and with it an unhealthy lifestyle that Pete, armed with knowledge about nutrition and exercise, has truly put behind him.

The new Pete Thomas walks around with a body fat percentage in the single digits, compared to the 51% body fat he dragged around in his 400+ pound pre-Biggest Loser days. And he doesn’t just walk anymore. Pete works out an hour per day five days a week.

As a child, Pete never learned about nutrition and exercise due to his transient lifestyle - a result of his mother’s serious mental illness. Several times as a young child, he was left alone or with his younger sister for weeks at a time, forced to find food wherever he could.

Although an avid reader, Pete missed major portions of elementary school as he was in and out of multiple foster homes. Still, he managed to graduate with honors from Detroit Kettering High School, where he was a member of the National Honor Society and Who’s Who Among American High School Students.

After attending the University of Michigan, Pete worked to build a successful career. That’s when years of poor eating habits began to catch up with him. During his first 14 years of marriage, he gained 10 pounds per year, despite following a number of fad diets.

“Being on The Biggest Loser really saved my life,” Pete says. The knowledge he gained revolutionized the way he eats and exercises, so that now, more than three years after being on the show, he has successfully kept the weight off.

Based on his experience at The Biggest Loser Ranch and extensive research into the science of weight loss, Pete has developed ‘Lose It Fast Lose It Forever™,’ a 10-week class that is helping the obese achieve a new lease on life.

He has appeared on ABC’s The View, The 700 Club, and eXtra as well as being featured in People Magazine, Runners World, TV Guide, The Detroit Free Press, inTouch Weekly and Real Health (Cover).

As a full time motivational speaker Pete now travels and spreads his “Winning Principles” to sales organizations, businesses, churches and community groups nationwide.

www.winningman.com

The best way to describe Scott is “Renaissance Man.” Friends and colleagues that know Scott from one facet of his life are very frequently surprised to learn of his interests and talents in other areas.

Scott is a marketing and communications professional focused on the digital industry – specifically on social media. His career spans a number of industries such as healthcare, pharma, biotech, travel, automotive, tech, and communications, and includes a wide range of clients, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. Some of Scott’s clients include American Airlines, Audi, Starwood Hotels, IBM Healthcare & Life Sciences, Boston Scientific, The Coca-Cola Company, Millipore, Motorola and Kraft Foods, as wellas numerous small-cap and start-up ventures.

Scott is currently the head of social media for Ford Motor Company, where he holds the title Global Digital & Multimedia Communications Manager. While his role is based in the Corporate Communications area, he is a strategic advisor on all social media activities across the company. From blogger relations to marketing support to customer service to internal communications and more, social media touches many facets of Ford business, and Scott is there to ensure it is consistent across all of them. As Consigliere for crayon, LLC, Scott served as the primary point of contact for clients, representing their interests. But his role elevated his connection with the client beyond a typical account service role, counseling clients with a firm understanding of their industry, a breadth of knowledge of the landscape of new marketing, coupled with a personal approach to deepen the relationship.

Scott joined crayon after three years with PJA Advertising + Marketing, a BtoB shop that specializes in the high tech and health sciences industries, where he helped clients with integrated brand campaigns and led an e-newsletter practice for a major client. Previously involved in the managed care and biotech/pharma/medical device consulting space, he has served in a variety of sales, marketing and communications roles. In addition to his marketing background, Scott is an active blogger and podcaster. He writes about issues relevant to the intersection of advertising, marketing and PR at The Social Media Marketing Blog (www.scottmonty.com) and also writes The Baker Street Blog, a literary undertaking, at www.bakerstreetblog.com. Scott has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, has guest-hosted the podcast Marketing Over Coffee, has been interviewed on numerous marketing podcasts, and is a recognized thought leader in the marketing industry.

Scott received his Master’s in Medical Science from Boston University’s School of Medicine concurrently with his MBA from BU’s Graduate School of Management. He lives in the greater Boston area with his wife and two young sons, golfs all too infrequently, and has a hidden talent for voice over work.

@scottmonty
www.scottmonty.com

Brand Camp University site is featured on WordPress showcase site www.welovewp.com. Thanks for showing love the groundswell continues. Remember it is not what you say about yourself, but what others say about you that matters. (I won’t turn this into a perception vs. reality discussion).

The ‘Brand Camp University’ facebook group has launched. Get connected. Join other passionate people people who are into developing their personal brand. http://tinyurl.com/65vct7

The new Brand Camp University (BCU) logo is born. I love great design and the development of the identity is as important to me as the content that will be developed for BCU.

Key Elements:

1. Est. 1971- The year I was born.

2. Vertical Lines- Bar Code (identity)

3. 7- The Seven Degrees of ‘The Brand YU Life’