The 92,000-hour challenge is a personal branding exercise that was birthed at Brand Camp – NYC on Tuesday, May 24^th as a method to get people (Human Brands) to re-think our life work (or what we were designed to do.)

What’s the significances of 92,000 hours?

The average person lives 78 years in the United States, which translates, to 683,200 hours that a person will live. Many people are starting to eat healthy and working out so many individuals will live beyond the average life expectancy. The two biggest activities a person will engage in, in their life is sleeping and working.

If a person works from age 21 until age 65 and works 40-hours per week they will work 92,000 hours. The data shows us that the average person will work past age 65 and works more than 40-hours per week. So the number 92,000 hours really represents the minimum number of hours that a person will work in their life.

How the Challenge Works/Requirements

Here is how the 92,000-hour challenge works. For the next 30-days, starting June 1, 2011 we are going to work on fleshing out our life purpose by creating a bucket list.

• Identify an Accountability Partner: You must identify an accountability partner. Your accountability partner will help to keep you accountable to following through.

• Get Listed: Add your name to the 92,000-hour challenge Google Doc list. The purpose is to develop a community of people that will be catalyst who will help us better understand what we were designed to do (optional) - (Must Request Access to be included on the list)

• Use the Hashtag: Use the hashtag #92khrs when you share your content in Twitter so that we can track comments.

• Create Weekly Blog Post: Each week you are required to publish at least one blog post whether it is video or text and share it via Twitter with the hashtag #92khrs.
• Create a Bucket List: The output is to create a bucket list of things that you believe that you would like to spend your 92,000 hours doing.

Weekly Blog Post Topics

• Topic #1- When I Grow Up: Create a list of what you wanted to be when you grew up! Identify the dreams you had when you were younger before people grown ups told you your dreams were not possible.

• Topic #2- Skill Set: Identify your skill sets and create a skill set inventory (This is not a list of things that you do on your current job.)

• Topic #3- Idea Job Description: Create your idea job description and work environment. Think about this from the perspective of being your own boss.

• Topic #4- Side Project: Create a side project that you could work on to give you some real world experience doing what you dreamed off.

Launch Date: Wednesday, June 1, 2011

End Date: Friday, July 1, 2011

Why are we doing this in a public domain? The reason is to make you and me more accountable. Making a public statement creates positive peer pressure and will help us stay committed to following through for the next 30-days of the challenge.

Please leave a comment if you plan on participating in the 92,000 hr personal branding challenge.

Add your name to the 92K Hours Challenge List in Google Docs: http://bit.ly/92khrs_list (Must Request Access by clicking the link)

Greg Clayman, Publisher of The Daily

Today we are excited to announce Greg’s topic for Brand Camp – NYC. The Daily is a category first: a tablet-native national news brand built from the ground up to publish original content exclusively for the iPad.

Built From Scratch: Creating Something New

Created by a small team of “intrapreneurs” within the halls of News Corporation, The Daily launched in February 2011 with the mission to provide the best news experience by combining world-class storytelling with the unique interactive capabilities of the iPad. Greg Clayman is the Publisher of The Daily, charged with managing the game-changing shifts in technology, process, subscription models and approach to content enabled by the latest developments in Tablet Media. Only a few months out from the launch of The Daily, Greg will discuss what went into building this cutting-edge product and what it takes to run it every day.

Bio

Greg Clayman is the Publisher of News Corporation’s The Daily: the first national news publication built from the ground up to create original content exclusively for tablet devices. Prior to The Daily, Greg was executive vice president of Digital Distribution & Business Development for MTV Networks and ran MTVN Mobile Media. There he managed digital business across MTVN’s channels to develop and manage new opportunities for digital content and strategic partnerships. Before joining MTVN, Greg co-founded Upoc, one of the first mobile media companies in the United States, and ran its marketing, sales and business development groups.

Register: http://bcnyc.eventbrite.com

Today what do you SEE?

Why do some Creative’s, Visionaries, Leaders, CEO’s, Athletes, Educators, and Entrepreneurs SEE opportunities when others SEE: junk, risk, 0.4 seconds and a relentless defender, and under performing students (who are diagnosed as ADD -Attention Deficit Disorder because they are over mediated and under exposed to resources that could unlock their true potential). The Internet, TV, and digital technology are great tools but nothing parallels the ability of the human mind to tap into a reservoir of creativity, ideas, knowledge and passion to create something that has never before existed.

I challenge you today to Zig when everyone else is Zagging. I challenge you to write an original blog post versus copying and re-hashing old, tire content that isn’t original. I challenge you to work on that idea that you have sat on for the past 5 years and as Seth Godin says, ‘Ship it’.

If the idea that you SEE stays locked up inside of you and is never released it is useless and has zero value. The impact of your idea is only felt when it is birthed and set free to change the lives of others.

Today what do you SEE?

Photo Credit to Shawn Lee

There are approximately 6.5 Billion people on the planet and we live in a hyper-connected world where we are increasingly communicated via online. As you continue to map out your digital footprint think about the Facebook, Twitter, internet connectivity, and mobile device usage is impacting personal brand.

• 6.5 Billion people on the planet

• 1.73 Billion Internet Users in 2009

• 400 Million Facebook Users

• 75 Million Twitter Users

• 50 Millions Tweets Sent per Day

• 60 Million Linkedin Users

• 126 Million Blogs on the Internet

• 90 Trillion Emails Sent in 2009

• 2.3 Trillion Text Messages Sent by 2010

• 285 Million Mobile Devices (91% of Americans)

• 75% of Internet Connected Homes Use Social Networks (61% of all U.S. Households)

• 28,800 Hours YouTube Video Uploaded per day.

Raw numbers alone are useless. These stats are being provided for you to determine their true impact to you and your personal brand.

This blog post was inspired by David Armano post, “How to be an Effective Corporate Ambassador.”

Think back to 1984, some Millennials were just born. Heck I wasn’t even in high school yet. What did the workplace look like pre-social media (as we know call it today)?

The digital workplace today is convoluted because corporations/organizations haven’t caught up with the lifestyles of the new digital worker. Most companies don’t have a social media policy (in the United States its 29%) in place or have created a culture that embraces or addresses the changing behaviors of the new digital worker. The new digital worker is hyper-connected with blurring lines between their personal and professional lives; but if harnessed properly the new digital worker has untapped potential that could be invaluable to the corporation that they represent.

The term personal branding also didn’t exist in the form that it does today back then. Depending on what side of the fence you are on personal branding gets mixed reviews. Is it EGO, does it exist, do you need it or is it authentic? At the end of the day we all know that we have to stand out to be recognized and to establish and position ourselves for opportunities we desire whether personal or professional. For the sake of argument we will call personal brands in the corporate workplace ‘brand ambassadors.’

As brand ambassadors we share the following qualities

• We all have voices
• We all have networks
• We all have influence/reach
• We talk about things we are passionate about
• We are hyper-connected

Who do you Represent?

All Americans have freedom of speech which is protected by the constitution of the United States that protects your rights to say what you want. But say something crazy online and see how long that freedom is protected. What you say can and will be held against you, remember an ambassador represents all the entities they are attached to them personally and professionally.

When you are online after hours or during work hours who do you represent? This question was easily answered a decade ago for most people. If you ask them what they did on their own time they would say it is their business. Today this isn’t true because who you are after hours can affect the brand you represent.

• Corporate Accounts: If your job requires you to have co-branded corporate profile(s) you have specific requirements and obligations with these accounts.

• Portable Personal Brand: Every person should have portable personal brand that moves with them if they change careers and employers. This includes your rental property (social networks like Twitter) and digital real estate that you own (your dot com/online hub.)

Who is Responsible?

Is the employer or the employee responsible for the digital workplace? This is a very broad question with many different answers, but the short answer is that the responsibility is shared. It is the corporation’s responsibility to create a culture that properly manages employees in an environment that is influenced by social technology. On the other hand the employees have the responsibility to monitor and manage their corporate and personal ecosystems that balances every move, decision, and status update that they make.

As brand ambassadors we have a shared responsibility to ourselves and the corporate/organization that we represent to perform on their behalf which is mutually beneficial. As early adopters brand ambassadors will play an integral part in helping to establish the digital workplace that will impact future workers and company culture.

One of the lessons that I received over the weekend, had to do with keeping your faith young. In most cases when we reach maturity in things we do, we are at our best. However being young in something doesn’t always have to be a direct correlation with immaturity.

I recently came a across a slide show that I put together for a really good friend’s wedding. On the soundtrack is a great song, called Forever Young, by Rod Stewart. Although the lyrics seem to be targeted towards a relationship with a son or daughter, I felt the song generally inspires us to stay young.

I strongly feel this is how we should approach our personal brand. Staying young in heart and mind allows you to stay invigorated, passionate, and most important - teachable. As we mature in life, some of the ways to maintain youth is to continue to learn different things that allow you to sharpen your skills and your knowledge base. Here are a few more things to consider:

Pay Attention to Accidental Inspiration
Although I think it is necessary to be purposeful in everything we do,inspiration and creativity many times is accidental. For instance a combination of experiences allowed for me to be inspired to write this post as explained above. I think it is always good to keep the juices flowing by mixing up the monotony and allowing yourself to be inspired by your experiences. Allowing yourself to be open to different genres and creating new relationships are good ways to mix things up. Just like a fruit smoothie, if you don’t mix it up you will find that all the good stuff is at the bottom.

Be Prepared for a Pivot
Good entrepreneurs are always ready for a potential pivot. Sometimes you start a business or initiative going in a specific direction. However things in the market could change or your customer evolves and you find that you have to take your idea in a different direction. To be prepared for a pivot you have your hand on the pulse of the market and be prepared to make a pivot in another profitable direction. Changing directions sometimes requires energy; it helps to stay young in the mind and be able to learn new things. This can apply to career’s and passion projects as well.

Maintain Momentum
Sometimes it is natural for us to get comfortable and on auto-pilot with our day-to-day responsibilities. Keeping our batteries charged through rest and recuperation, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and constantly staying in practice allows us to keep up with the pace of our purpose in life.

These are things that can edify your day-to-day duties on-the-job or business, relationships with your spouse and kids, and in our friendships. Stay Invigorated and Forever Young.

Personal brands operate in one of three worlds: Builders, Grustlers, or Leapers. Now let’s break down the three types, as you read through the descriptions identify which one you are. As a backdrop the workplace is changing, emerging technology is impacting the way we live and communicate, and globalization is shifting when, where and how we work.

Builders (Intrapreneurs) – A builder is a worker that is wired to work in an existing corporate or company structure. Organized working structures typically have regular pay periods, access to company resources, and systems/processes in place that allows people to work in a structured environment. This type of individual enjoys working for someone else and building someone else’s dreams while developing themselves and their personal brand. Most universities and colleges teach students to auto-follow this mentality regardless of how a person is wired because it has been the safe option historically. The biggest benefits of this category are the halo effect and company resources.

Benefits of Builders

• Halo Effect – Working for a large corporation can position you for great opportunities that are a direct result of your association with the company you work for.

• Company Resources – The resources that are available at a large corporation can be very beneficial to your career: experience using enterprise software, databases, cool projects and access to priority data.

• Expanded Network – Great network building opportunities: attending conferences, company networking events, and the visibility to higher-level executives.

Examples: Jeremiah Owyang

Grustlers (Hybrids) – GRUSTLE is the combination of a daily Grind (job) and a Hustle (your passion). In my book ‘The Brand YU Life’ the first degree (or principle) is ‘Identify Your Passion’ which is the cornerstone of Grustlin’.

Definitions

Grind: A grind is a job; employment; typically your primary source of income.

Hustle: A hustle is your passion, what you would love to do full-time and what gives you the most satisfaction. It is what you typically do after you work your daily grind.

Your career/job is the primary source of income that you use to seed your passion. This is a minimal risk option that allows you to develop and grow your ideas without the pressure or financial weight of doing it full-time. This personal brand type tends to operate as more of a transitional phase for people shifting from being a builder to a leaper. There are various forms of Grustle: (1) Being a college student and establishing a blog or having a 9-to-5 job and starting a business on the side are two examples.

Benefits of Grustlers

• Future Job Security – Operating in a grustle is a new form of job security. Depending upon a single employer or a single career to be your financial source for your entire career is more risky than ever before.

• Additional Financial Stream – Grustling allows you to add an additional financial revenue stream in your area of passion.

• Career Transition – It is a career strategy to enable you to transition into a new career that doesn’t mesh with your past work history or educational background.

• Practice over Theory – It allows you to demonstrate your capabilities in the real world versus claiming expertise in theory. It goes beyond what you learned in the classroom.

Examples: Gary Vaynerchuk

Leapers (Entrepreneurs) – Pure entrepreneurship doesn’t appear typically to be innate because it is talked out of us as a child by parents and teachers. In college we are brainwashed to think of ourselves as builders only. It is only after years of making someone else rich, being downsized, outsourced, or fired that we are forced to follow our passion. Some do arrive here after working for someone else and having a great work experience.

Benefits of Leapers

• You own the results – The risk and reward is greater but you own the results the fruits of your labor.

• Lifestyle Management – Leapers have the most impact on their work environment whether it is a home office, co-working, coffee shops, or cubicles.

• Leaders of Innovation – Small enterprises with less bureaucracy are typically the innovative companies which are lead by visionary leapers.

Examples: Kevin Carroll, Mark Zuckerberg

Note: It is possible to be a hybrid of each type as you transition from one phase to another.

People will tell you that you need to work on your own. That is not necessarily true. You have to identify how you are wired. The pressure of being financially responsible for a company is a hugh undertaking your timing and developing must be right. Being true to where you are is the key. There are great success stories in each category.

How you manage your online personal brand should be dictated by the type of personal brand that you are and the stage of your career that you are in.

Demographics

• Baby boomers (1946-1964) – This group was born during the automotive manufacturing age in the United States and they worked for someone else. If they went to college they were taught to be loyal to their employer. Category: Builders
  

• Gen Y (1965-1976) – This group started our careers in the end of the automotive manufacturing boom but were still taught to go to school and work and be loyal to your employer. Category: Builders
  

• Millennials (1977-1994) - Economy tanks. They are born grustlers. This hyperconnected group is blogging, multi-tasking and developing online businesses. Category: Grustlers
  

Identify your personal branding type: Builder, Grustler, or Leaper. The Leaper lifestyle is glorified because it can be a great rag to riches story, or one that changes the world like Microsoft (Bill Gates) or Facebook (Mark Zuckerberg). It can be a recipe of disaster if you are not wired for it.

Do you want to be influential or are you comfortable with being mediocre? As a personal brand, there is no prerequisite saying that you have to be influential over millions of people. However while maintaining a personal brand online, you are secretly charged with being a curator of content or solutions for the people who follow you. This is the value that you offer to your audience, regardless to if you have 1 million followers or 300.

As a curator, you share the best content or solutions online for your followers and advocates to consume. For years, news organizations, magazine editors, radio disc jockey’s, and fashion stylists have curated pop culture for us and when we sniffed, bit, and accepted what they offered, many brands have reaped major success in return. With social media giving some of that power back to us, we have individually been able to take on the role of civilian editors; sharing and publishing content links. Doing this successfully, can pay considerable dividends for your personal brand. We have 7-Tips, that we think will help you do this effectively to maintain a healthy brand and establish influence with your audience.

Passion
The internet oozes with passionate people. Everyone online usually stakes the house on what they believe in. Passion is necessary in order to get people to believe in you and the things you share. If you recommend content, products, or any type of solution online, you better show them with strong conviction why you think it was great. Otherwise they may perceive your offering as a waste of their time. Inject energy and passion into anything you publish and share.

Don’t Ride the Wave of Fads
Fads come and go like the wind. If you want to have a personal brand that is relevant, make sure your recommendations have substance that transcends fad status. There are also many things you recommend that naturally have short life cycles. So for instance if you recommend the iPhone 3GS and the new iPhone 4 comes out, that is a natural progression in that product. This doesn’t mean they are in fad status and as a curator you have to be able to decipher which is what. For example, Myspace wasn’t necessarily a fad, however the company failed to innovate, which helped it secure it’s approaching spot in oblivion.

Fan-boy-ism is Allowed
Fan-boys and fan-girls are mocked and ridiculed; many times rightful so. Heres the skinny, if you are crazy about a brand or a good piece of published works — sing its praises to the roof tops! However, be able to recognize any faults of a brand you recommend. Don’t be a blind lover, see the truth and the truth only.

Regurgitate Excerpts, But Only With Your Personality
One of the tenets of being a curator of content online is that if you are going to recommend or share existing published works, do so with respect. When you do this, it is good to link back to the source. Regurgitating someone else’s good work, gets your personal brand card revoked real quick. When referencing someone else’s work, point back to that content through linking and give your own personalized twist on why you thought it was a great piece of work.

Quality is King
Museum curators are heralded because of the great body of work they manage to source in their museum. This is no different for your personal brand. Share and present works to your followers that is tasty. It helps if the content or brand you are sharing is relevant and current to the times. Reality is that quality is in the eye of the beholder, but if you have a good handle on who your followers are, you will hit the mark most of the time. Which brings us to our next point…

Know Your Followers
When engaging your followers, its best to know the make up of the group. If you don’t have a connection with many people that are super tech savvy, it wouldn’t be wise to talk about computer motherboards or microprocessors. It’s not relevant to them and the information doesn’t add value to them.

Be Right.
If you say that something is good or encourage people to try a brand, your recommendation has to be right. Are you going to knock it out of the park all the time? Probably not. Will people the click links to every single article you send their way? Probably not. But the higher you’re batting average, the more people will be eager to listen to what you have to say.

Go out and curate, I am looking forward to being influenced by you.

We are all witnesses. This message has never rang more true then on July 8^th at 9PM EST. This moment will forever be etched in the history of basketball lore. The decision, the debate, the letter (Dan Gilbert), and the statement (. . .taking my talents to South Beach).

LeBron has been a prodigy before he stepped on the world stage as a sophomore at St.Vincent - St. Mary’s High School in Arkon, Ohio. As fans we could not get enough of ‘King James’ we purchased his jerseys, watched his games, wore his shoes and drank his water (Vitamin Water.) We watched in amazement as he has grown from an 18-year old young man into a businessman with aspirations of being the first billion-dollar athlete.

Sports is a Business, Period.

Sports is a business, period. It is a dog eat dog world. I don’t see any NBA owners running to the aid of Antoine Walker who is in debt after earning over $110M and supporting 75-people. Why because it is business?

Was LeBron wrong for ‘The Decision’? The decision to leave, no he was a free agent. The decision to blast his hometown on global TV, yes. There was nothing good that could possibly come out of the event even if he raised $2.5M for charity. Brand building is a very violate undertaking. Every decision, every relationship, every move, every word can grow, jeopardize, and/or destroy everything you have ever worked your entire personal and professional life.

Historic Basketball Note: Michael Jordan was essentially forced out of Chicago after being loyal to the Bulls and delivering 6-NBA championships. Michael Jordan was given the door by the Wizards once he stopped playing basketball. How loyal should an athlete or an employee be to an employer?

Financial Impact of LeBron

For anyone who thinks the decision was not about finance is living under a rock. For LeBron it wasn’t about maximizing his earning potential with his NBA contract but let’s take a look at the numbers.

• The City of Cleveland generated $3.7M per Cleveland Cavalier home game .
• Cavaliers were 2^nd in home attendance with near 100% capacity (2010-11).
• Cavaliers team valuation in Forbes dropped from $476M to $390M.
• Heat road attendance was 93% it will exceed 100% in 2010-11
• He will save an estimated $25M in state taxes signing with Miami.
• LeBron leaves $15M on the table (Sign & Trade)
• Stock prices of the publicly traded Madison Square Garden dropped.
• Each playoff game in NYC or New Jersey would deliver a $3.6M financial impact to the region.
• ‘The Decision’ raises $2.5M for the Boys & Girls Club.
• ‘The Decision’ was the third-most-watched program on cable television 2010 (9.95M watched).
• Rating as a viable endorser only fell from 69.9% to 67.6% (This may change)
• Jersey sells for LeBron is #2 behind Kobe.

LeBron’s Personal Brand – A Typical Millennial

LeBron is a typical Millennial and his behavior aligns with the characteristics of that demographic.

Characteristics of a Millennial (A few of the traits LeBron exhibited)

• They are becoming empowered personal brands in the workplace and are impacting their employers and the way they communicate.
• Blended work life that allows them to work when, how and where they want to.
• They want to work with their friends.
• They share their lives online (in this case TV)

What drove his decision?

What decision would have been best for LeBron depends on what was most important to him?

• Basketball Legacy: The best move for basketball legacy would have been: Cleveland or Chicago
• Financial: New York. Hugh media market and increased endorsement opportunities.
• Championships: Miami or Chicago. Miami provides that option while playing with his friends.
• Personal Brand: Cleveland. Great story hometown hero impacts the local economy economically. If he would have won a championship his legacy would have locked.
• Personal Satisfaction: Miami. I believe he wanted to be happy and felt that playing in Miami with D.Wade was going to provide that.

What is the true impact? It depends on the metrics you are measuring. Legacy, financial, strength of personal brand, value to marketers, and/or online sentiment. Financially I believe there will be little impact. Unless there is a major character issue or another PR stunts like ‘The Decision’. His contract with the Heat is guaranteed. His major sponsors like Nike aren’t going anywhere. (He probably won’t sell too many shoes in Cleveland.)

My Personal Opinion: The strategy LeBron and his team used to communicate ‘The Decision’ was ill conceived and over the top knowing he was leaving Cleveland. You don’t diss your hometown on TV. LRMR and LeBron have a PR, social media and trust nightmare on their hands and whatever other word you want to use. I also believed he should have personally called Dan Gilbert prior to the special. Since LeBron didn’t return a call or text to Dan Gilbert since the season ended there is probably more to this story beneath the surface that we may never know. At the end of the day it is business.

However, I commend LeBron for making a business decision not driven by emotions. As a personal brand you need to do what is going to help you live the most fulfilled life, also understanding that you have to be able to live with the results of your decision. At the end of the day the final chapter of his personal brand is not written I believe it is going to boil down to what he does on the court. As we all know winning has a way of changing things.

Let me know your thoughts.

What inspires you in life? This Pantene commercial is about a deaf and mute girl that learns to play the violin against all odds. What challenges do you face in life that you complain about? If she can overcome the odds in her life what is stopping you?

Choose to be different and live your dreams. Don’t live your life to just be like others.

One of the biggest challenges in life is not starting but finishing. Anybody can start something but to the finisher goes all the spoils. What if Fred Smith founder of FedEx stopped with his term paper at Yale, when his professor told him overnight shipping would never work? Fred is a finisher and the impact of his start is still being felt today.

History chronicles those that finish. We rarely talk about the runner-up, second place, or the 500-page book manuscript that you wrote but never published. Personal branding is captured in one word is finishing. One of the people that I have a great deal of respect for is Seth Godin who has talked about this topic at length and has packaged it as shipping.

Reasons Why we Like Starting Stuff

• Big Bodacious Teams: At the start of a project, leaders and teams are galvanized and inspired to change the world.
• The Shiny Objective Syndrome: People love working and focusing on new task, projects, and the flavor of the day. Even entrepreneurs believe that they can do the impossible.
• Excitement – Launching an idea is typically very energizing.
• Drinking Bathwater – People who would drink your bath water because they think you are the greatest thing since sliced bread gassing your head up.

What is the value of finishing?

• Building Mindshare: Mindshare is owning a slice of mental real estate in the mind of your target audience. Building a strong personal brand is established over time by finishing projects that are consistent with your personal brand objectives.
• Creating a culture of execution: You begin to approach projects, ideas, and businesses with the mindset of starting things that you are intentionally planning on finishing. Your life becomes a series of completed projects or ideas that slowly build or speak your consistency. People began to identify you as a person that executes.

• Conversion: Finishing is about converting objectives into strategies. To complete anything that is significant you have to create small victories on the road of completion. Finishing forces you to strategically approach your work in a way that will result in measurable objectives you complete.

Tips for Finishing

• Set measurable goals and objectives.
• Validate the objectives align with your personal mission and purpose. The end result should add value to your personal brand.
• Shorten your list: You are not creating a list to sound or look important.

What Finishing Means to your Personal Brand

Finishing is not about being a rocket scientist or throwing junk together but about establishing clear objectives and aligning strategies to make those objectives a reality. Personal Branding taken a step further is about completing projects that are mission and purpose driven and align with your passion, the way you are wired and your personal brand DNA. The end results is attaching your name and your legacy to finished projects, ideas, or products that aligns, builds, and strengthens 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.

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